Bane of Eternity
by JayTheCow
Summary: While some villagers seek refuge in the shadows of the leaves, or the safety of the sand, one seeks refuge in the light, unknown to all but the most skilled of eyes. Only the strongest survive... or so they thought. GaaraXOC NarutoXOC ShikamaruXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi! My 2 cousins, my sister (**CatsAreMyJoy**) and I thought of this story, but I'm the one putting it into words. Well, this kind of story plot is kinda overused, but I'm doing it anyway. This is my first fanfic, so, yeah. :P

Since this is the first chapter, I shall do the disclaimer.

**Disclaimer: ME NO OWN NARUTO. I only own me OCs. Naruto only belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. If I owned Naruto, Matsuri and Sari never liked Gaara and this is what should have happened:**

*edited*

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><p><span>CHAPTER 1:<span> _He's changed..._

'_Sea foam eyes and reddish brown hair. I would never forget those eyes or that hair…'_

I looked up right after and saw the massive sand wall that acts as a barrier for the village against anything and anyone. _'Finally, I'm here…' _I stared at it longingly.

A gust of wind wafted around me as I stood, looking at the sand wall and I shivered. _'I should go inside before I get sick. Why does the desert have to be so cold in the night?' _I complained to myself as I walked through the gap between the walls.

As I made my way to the village, I felt much colder since the walls blocked the moon, my source of comfort. _'I wonder if the Sand Village has changed… if it did, how much?'_ My train of thought was disrupted when a stray moonlight burst through and illuminating my path, showing that I just entered the village.

I stepped from the dark walls and looked at the village, reminiscing. It was bathed in the moonlight; pools of it flowing through the village like seas would do to corals. I always thought that the Sand Village looked the best in the night. The solemn appearance of it makes this place very peaceful.

'_Three years… it's been too long… I'm home.'_

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><p>A lone figure sat on the top of the tallest building in the village. The moonlight seemed to settle itself on him, making his skin look paler than usual. Dark rings caused by insomnia came around his sea foam eyes, eyes that looked as cold as ice. They never betrayed any emotion, resulting to the fear of the villagers. He has a reddish brown hair with bangs that perfectly framed his face and a kanji for 'ai', love, etched on his forehead above his left eye, like a scar that wouldn't ever go away. He wore a black full body suit. The shorter sleeve is like a shirt and the longer sleeve is fishnet. His pants are three fourths with bandages wrapping around from the pants to his feet. He wore ninja shoes. He wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. He carried his gourd through the leather band. He also tied his forehead protector around the leather band.<p>

Everyone feared him. Feared him for the monster that was unjustly placed in him. To them, he was a failed experiment. They never thought that he would feel hurt like normal humans do. They only thought of him as a threat. A monster. A demon. He tried to be nice to everyone, but they closed their doors on him. At that time, he thought that he was loved by his uncle, but soon found out that he wasn't. So by the pain that he felt, he shut other people out. He never let anyone near him. He killed them if they got in his way. For him, to prove that he exists, he kills. He only loves himself. He's Sabaku no Gaara.

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><p>Another sleepless night, just like any other night. Gaara knew that if he slept, the Shukaku, the monster inside of him, would take over his body and he would be no more. Tonight was one of the difficult nights when the Shukaku becomes the strongest. It was because of the full moon. The Shukaku kept on tugging at his mind, prodding it for any weak points, coaxing Gaara to kill someone, to show them, to tell them of his existence. But no matter how much the monster pleads, threatens, or coaxes, Gaara did not give. There's something about this night that kept him from unleashing the Shukaku on anyone.<p>

From his position on the roof, he gazed at the village that had scorned him ever since his birth. Unknowingly, his eyes stared at the stars in the sky. Whenever he spent time on the roof, he never even gave the stars a second thought. It was just him and the constant tugging of the Shukaku. The last time he looked at the stars was a long time ago.

_*flashback*_

"_Hey, Gaa-chan!" the young Gaara turned his head to the girl beside him._

"_Uh… I'm sorry, what did you say again?" he smiled sheepishly. The girl to his right seemed to be at his age of 6, or maybe a year younger than him. She had bluish black hair and her eyes looked sterling blue. As blue as the sea below. Her hair was short, as it only reaches until her shoulders. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips._

"_You keep on zoning out, Gaa-chan!" her cheeks puffed in childish anger. "You're gonna miss all the beautiful sights if you keep on zoning out like that."_

_They were at the balcony or roof of the Kazekage building at night. It was 'their spot' and nobody else's. The light shone brightly that night and the stars were sparkling like jewels thrown up in the sky and never came back._

_Gaara sent her an apologetic smile, not knowing what else to say. After a few moments of silence, the little girl spoke up._

"_Gaa-chan, don't you think that the stars look pretty tonight?"_

_He glanced at his friend, wondering where she gets all these questions, and then turned his attention at the stars. Countless stars shone dazzlingly, filling the sky with light. Each individual star looked different. Some are big, some are small, some are bright and some are dim. Gaara then observed his friend as she admired the stars with a smile on her face._

"_Yes. They are really pretty tonight." She grinned, obviously pleased with his answer, and scooted closer to Gaara, so there was no space between them._

"_Nee, Gaa-chan?" he looked at her, "You know what? If there is a star like you, it would be the brightest one! Like the one over there!" and she pointed at the brightest one near the moon, though far from the other stars._

"_Why is that, Jay-chan?" he looked up, puzzled why she would say it._

"_Because Gaa-chan," she smiled, "like that star, you are strong, kind, and a really great friend. Like that star, even though people always stay away from you, you still shine brightly and see it through."_

_Gaara blushed at her compliments and smiled at his friend._

"_I'm only able to make it through the day because you're here… Thank you." He looked up and said, "And if you are like a star too, you'd be the one right beside mine."_

"_And why is that, Gaa-chan?" she tilted her head to the right, wondering what he would say._

"_It's because, when I was lonely and alone, you were the one who was always there. You became my friend, even though many people call me a monster, even though they all hate me… you made me smile when everyone made me sad. You helped me so much." they smiled at each other and they both watched the two stars as silence enveloped them. _

"_The stars are so far away, but so near at the same time that it makes me want to grab them." She once again broke the silence as she reached out her hand as if to grab the stars. "What do you think the stars are made of? If I could go there, I would get as many of them as I can!"_

"_I don't know what they're made of." Gaara shrugged. "If there was a way to go up there, Jay-chan, I'll make sure to bring you with me!"_

_*end flashback*_

'_Why… why did I remember that?' _he thought to himself. He then realized that his hand reached out for the stars like the little girl did and immediately placed his hand down at his side.

Then from the corner of his eye, he noticed someone, or some _girl_ walk through the gap of the walls of the village. She had bluish black hair and her eyes looked sterling blue. Her hair was tied in a loose braid on her left. She had bangs parting at the left which framed her face and covered most of her right eye. She wore a light blue long, body hugging dress without sleeves with the insignia of the sand village on the lower left of her dress, the dress cut from the bottom until the hips and she wore tight, dark blue shorts underneath. She had fishnet on her left arm from her fingers until her elbow, dark blue finger less gloves on both hands and fishnet from her right knee to her feet and she wore ninja shoes. She wore a smile on her face as if reminiscing about something.

Seeing her smile, memories flashed through Gaara's mind, leaving him with emotions or feelings that he didn't understand. Memories that he thought he never had. Until now.

'_That girl…'_ he frowned, his nonexistent eyebrows furrowing. There's something about that girl that seemed to make him—or the Shukaku—on edge. The monster took advantage of Gaara's confused feelings and told him,

**"_There! That's our perfect target! Kill her! I want her blood soaked in our sand! By killing her, it will greatly prove your existence!" _** The Shukaku goaded him a lot more tonight, proving that Ichibi was definitely on edge. This time, the Shukaku was more persistent than Gaara thought.

"No!" Gaara groaned, clutching his head between his hands. "No… I… I can't!"

**"_Why can't you?"_** The Shukaku growled at him. The problem is, Gaara can't find an answer to that. He just doesn't have an answer to that. **_"Just release me! It's as simple to kill her as we did with the others! It's just like the ones before!"_**

"Why… Why do you want to kill her so badly?" Gaara growled at it, feeling tremors throughout his body as the Shukaku fought for control.

**"_Why don't you?"_** The Shukaku bit back. Once again, no answer came to him. He just knew that he shouldn't—couldn't—kill her. All the answers in his head seemed to fade away. Only the image of the night under the stars was clear in his head.

Amidst the pain, Gaara noticed that the girl sensed his presence so he immediately hid in the shadows just in time before she looked where he had been a while ago. By the time she looked away, the Shukaku stopped bombarding him with questions as to why he didn't want to kill her and receded in the back in his mind.

Gaara clenched his fists tightly. _'What's in that girl? Why don't I want to kill her?'_ His thoughts were cut short when he sensed another presence. He saw a sand ninja, a familiar one, come and talk to the girl. Then the girl looked back up to his spot and this time, he let her see him.

When they locked eyes, Gaara stared at her with his emotionless eyes, trying to hide his emotions, or so he thought._ 'What made you so special that I didn't allow the Shukaku to kill you? What makes you different from the others?' _his eyes seemed to say. The girl's eyes widened in what it seemed to be shock, pain and confusion caught in the middle and before Gaara could make sense of it all, they disappeared, though not without getting a full glimpse of her hair and her eyes. And not before a little girl's face flashed in his mind.

'_Jay?'_

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><p><em><strong>A few minutes before…<strong>_

I looked at the Sand Village, my home. Here I laughed, cried, grew up, fell, ran, walked, and met a special someone—I snapped my head up and searched the roofs of the buildings with my eyes. Then my eyes grazed over the highest building in Suna and wondered.

'_I swear I felt an ominous presence nearby… was it… blood lust?'_ I shivered at the thought and looked away. _'You're just being paranoid.'_

Suddenly, a sand ninja came and bowed respectfully. He's a tall man. He has two red markings on the right side of his face, the only visible part of his head, the rest being covered by a turban-like thing and a sheet hanging from it on his left side of his face. He wears the usual Suna ninja attrie with his forehead protector and his jacket. I was in a bit of a shock since I wasn't used to this high regard ever since I left the Sand Village.

"You are Lady Chiyo's granddaughter if I am not mistaken? We have been informed of your arrival." He inquired, still bowing. I regained my composure before I replied.

"Yes." I nodded. Well, I was technically not her blood relative, but I guess she kind of adopted me already. It's _ really_ a long story, so let's deal with that after some time. "And you are?"

"My name is Baki, I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I am in-charge of escorting you to Lady Chiyo." He complied, straightening up.

"No harm done." I nodded to him and brought my eyes up to that roof and this time, I saw him. His sea foam eyes, his reddish brown hair. Everything about him looked the same, or so I thought. His eyes were different… We locked eyes and I never thought that his eyes could look so angry, so sad…so confused. So many ravaging emotions filled his eyes. My eyes widened as I figured out that most of his emotions were directed at me. At that moment, I knew my eyes betrayed my every emotion that I felt: confusion, shock…pain.

'_He's changed…'_ This Gaara… This Gaara is different. Different from the one I used to play with. This is not the carefree and childish and shy Gaara I know. This Gaara… experienced so much when I was gone. I can see it in his eyes. His demeanor is so different now. His aura makes me involuntarily shudder.

But before I could look away, Baki transported us and we disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared in a cave-like place with a circular pond in between two elderly people. One was a man named Ebizo. He has heavy-lidded eyes that made him look like he doesn't have eyes at all. He has long eyebrows that framed his face. He has a turban wrapped on his head and wears the Sand Village robes. The elderly woman's hair is tied with a bun and has a clothy thing on her head and also wears the Sand Village robes. Baki bowed to the three of us and disappeared.

"Grandma Chiyo…" I said softly and smiled, but I guess I didn't seem all too happy because she came forward and hugged me, something that she doesn't do too often. Then she released me from her embrace and smiled down at me.

"Welcome home, Jay."

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><p><strong>AN: **Please tell me what you think of my story by reviewing! ^^ Ummm... please be kind in reviewing.. :"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hi ho, everyone! ^^

**Me: **Thankies for **reviewing**! And for those who **didn't** ... ***evil eyes* *demonic aura** everywhere*

**Jay: *****comes in with a cookie in her hand*** Geez Louise! Take a chill pill, will ya? ***Hands me a cookie* **There! Now, calm down while I do the disclaimer.

**Me: *looks at it doubtfully* **This has no poison in it... right?

**Jay: **Why would I even want to poison you? Geez. You're more not trusting than Gaara! Even you're aura is darker that his!

**O.O IMPOSSIBLE!**

**Jay: **Anyway, just eat it!

**Me: *****scrutinizes the cookie then takes a nibble* **... ... O.O ... ... ... ... O.O

**Jay: *****looks at me as if I'm weird(I am, anyway)* **Are you ok?

**Me: **COOKIIIIIE! ***sparkles everywhere* **Yummy yummy! Food for my tummy!

**Jay: **O.O ...

Anyway, here's the disclaimer:

**Jay: JayTheCow (she's not really a cow...) does not own Naruto. Kishimoto-sensei does. If she DOES own Naruto... well... *looks at Me, giggling while eating the cookie* ... Naruto would be A LOT more crazy than it is...**

**Me: **Hey!

**Jay: ****So, yeah. She owns me, and her other OCs! **

**Me and Jay: **Enjoy the 2nd Chapter!

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><p><span>CHAPTER 2<span>

I woke up to the birds chirping in the morning, and to the soft warm air flowing through the open gaps of my window. I sat up, gathering my bearings. I was in my room. Three circular windows are on my right and in front of my bed is a door that leads to the bathroom. In the left of my bed is a small bedside table with a lamp and a picture of Gaara and me, when we were kids, on top. And a door on the wall opposite to the windows leads to the hallway.

'_Ah… I'm in my room...'_ I yawned as I rubbed my eye and suddenly stopped as my sentence fully registered on my still sleepy mind, _'I'm in the Sand Village! I'm back home!'_

I threw off my blanket and fully opened my window and breathed in the smell of the Sand. The smell of sand, the smell of … sand. And more sand. Well, nobody would exactly say that the Sand smells beautiful, but I do. It smells like the beautiful smelling sea. It must be because of the sand. I poked my head out of my window and gazed at the village. While I was looking at the view, I caught a glimpse of the Kazekage tower and remembered.

'_Gaa-chan…' _I shook my head, clearing my thoughts and clenched the window sill till my knuckles turned white. _'I'm _not _gonna let this ruin my day. I _will _get my best friend back.' _I remember my new resolve last night and I will do it. I'll do whatever it takes to get Gaara back.

'_I don't have much time,' _I reminded myself as I rushed to the bathroom, took a shower and did all stuff that should be done in the bathroom. _'Gaa-chan is stubborn. If I want to get him back, I need to work double time…'_

_*flashback*_

"_The genin exam is in 5 days." Grandma Chiyo crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I'll train you for the remaining 5 days, so no dilly-dallying."_

"_But! Grandma Chiyo—"I protested. I wouldn't be able to have time searching for Gaara if I use all of it for training._

"_No buts!" she cut me off and looked at me sternly. "I _know _you're gonna go off with that Jinchuuriki of yours and it will result to your lack of training. Set your priorities straight."_

_Geez, Grandma Chiyo could be really strict sometimes._

_She was about to go on her rant when Grandpa Ebizo placed his hand on his sister's shoulder and chuckled. _(**A/N**: I know that Ebizo and Chiyo are siblings. I just didn't know how to address Ebizo, so he became Grandpa.)

"_Sister, give Jay some space. I know that it means so much for you to make Jay graduate, but she just arrived. She's been training for three continuous years. She can pass this test." Ebizo told her gently. "I know she can take care of herself, well, if you are pertaining to her getting close to the Shukaku, that is." _

_I beamed at him after hearing his words._

"_Fine." Grandma Chiyo sighed, "I'll train you for three days. I get to decide when I will train you alright? And you have to promise me to train _really _hard in return."_

'_Yes, Grandma!" I gave her a cheeky grin and waved to them, "Thanks, Grandpa! Good night!"_

_*end flashback*_

I got my ninja weapon cases, I have two: one in the left thigh and one in the right thigh, and my butt pocket thingo and placed them in their respective places. I went downstairs and saw a note on the table. I rolled my eyes as I read it. The note basically said that the food's on the table, probably from Grandpa and not to die. That one's obviously from Grandma. I swear, she worries too much. I got a piece of toast and locked the doors and headed outside.

'_I have two days… not enough, but let's see if I can beat time and soften that 'stone heart', as I heard some gossiping women say it, of my once best friend… I just hope I'm not too late.'_

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><p>…<em><strong>..(time lapse)…<strong>_

"Gah! Is it _that _difficult to find a guy in this village?" I panted as I sat down on the Kazekage tower, 'our spot', exhausted from running around.

I've been searching every nook and cranny for the whole day just so I can have a decent conversation with the Junchuuriki, but to no avail. It's like he can hide himself in sand or something—

'_Stupid!' _I facepalmed. _'Gah! _Of course _he can hide himself in sand! He's the Jinchuuriki of the Shukaku, for goodness sake!'_

I know the village like the back of my hand, but I can't seem to find him. Considering if I should just call it a day, I gazed at the horizon, the sky turning from blue to orange to pink, colors dancing and flowing above. It's like a painter was controlling the sky and bending the colors to his will. It's like a painter was making a pure, original masterpiece. I would greatly admire a person who could perfectly capture this beauty, the beauty of nature.

"Great, now the sun's setting. I guess I wasted one whole day, waiting and searching, for a guy to show up!" I exclaimed exasperatedly, throwing my hands up. While looking at the sunset, I decided that it was time to call it a day… But it seems like fate has its own plans…

"You were looking for me?" a deep, raspy voice asked, surprising me. It sounded more like a statement than a question with his tone of voice, though.

"I was looking for my best friend who seemed to have gotten himself lost." I turned and faced him, the guy I have been searching for the whole day. Just seeing his face made my heart beat erratically and made blood rush to my face. _'Why the heck is it going like that?'_ I attempted to hide the signs of him being near me by being cryptic, and even if I failed to hide my blush, he didn't seem to see it. Gosh, he really did surprise me.

'_Jay… Just a piece of advice: be careful. You don't know this new Gaara. You are treading on dangerous waters…' _I mentally reminded myself. _'Remember what Grandma Chiyo told you right before you slept last night?'_

_*flashback*_

_I was in my bedroom and was about to sleep when Grandma Chiyo entered and walked towards my window without a word. A few minutes ticked and right when I thought that she wouldn't speak, she did._

"_Jay, Gaara has changed." I sighed. As expected, straight to the point. She never misses a beat. "People easily change as autumn changes to winter."_

"_No matter what you say to me, Grandma, you won't sway me." I stubbornly said. "I can't just let him hate everyone and I can't just let everyone hate him. Too much hatred might just make him explode. It can make everyone explode, and I mean it more ways than one. I can't just leave him alone to fend for himself, even though he might not want my help. If what you say is true, I'll find a way to save him from himself. It may seem pretentious, but I know Gaara. At least I think so. And if he _did _change, there has to be something that remained of the previous Gaara."_

_After my short, impromptu speech, I saw the elderly woman's shoulders tense and she sharply turned to face me._

"_Jay, listen to me! You _won't _recognize this Gaara. The kid that you used to play with is _long gone. _You don't _know _how much damage he caused this village! _How many people he's killed! _Don't expect any special treatment from him just because you were his friend. _People change, Jay! _Don't be so naïve as to think that you can change him back as swift as snapping your fingers. I'm trying to save you from the pain of seeing him so different." And in a soft voice she said, "What I'm trying to say is that you should think twice about going near him. Be careful. I'm only looking out for you, and so is Ebizo. You are like a granddaughter to me. To us. Consider your actions before you execute them."_

_And without uttering another word, she left my room, leaving me alone with my thoughts._

_*end flashback*_

"You didn't answer my question." He growled, snapped me out of my reverie. He glared at me, making me fully comprehend, amidst my wishful thinking, how much he's changed. That realization hit me like a hard, thick wall, making it hard to breathe.

"_I'm so naïve to think that I could change him back so easily. More so to think that he wouldn't change at all. I'm so arrogant. Grandma was right…" _ I thought to myself. I felt as if every second I waste, Gaara was slipping farther from my grasp. But I can't let this happen. By this time, the sun had fully set and darkness enveloped us, save for the light that came from the moon.

"Yes." I stood up, deciding that I tell him the truth. "I was looking for you."

"Why? What do you want from me?" his eyes carried a guarded expression, as if trying to keep me out. My heart clenched painfully. I don't like seeing him like this. It hurts me as much as it hurts him, even though he's not aware of it.

"Because I care…" I said softly and took a step closer. "As I told you, I'm trying to find someone dear to me, someone who lost his way and bring him back to life…"

"My _best friend_…" I looked directly at his eyes.

"Care is an empty word." He darkly laughed, his baleful smile surfacing. "It has no meaning for me. What is your real reason? It can't be because you care. Nobody cares for me. Nobody ever will."

"Gaa-chan… I care about you. Please believe me." It took all of my willpower not to cry in front of him. I stepped closer.

"Lies." He shook his head sharply as if stopping my words from reaching him, his smile disappearing as fast as it came. "I don't believe you! There is no such thing as pure love! Love doesn't exist! People only use love as an excuse to take advantage of others. Love is only a burden that will bring you down. These _foolish _bonds of yours will be your demise.

"You might exist to _care_," he spat out the word venomously, "but _I _exist to kill. I am born a monster. I took the life of the woman you would call a mother. She even named me as a demon who only loves himself. She does not care. Nobody cares. I cannot and will not ever be loved!"

"_Nobody would seem to care, but _I _do, Gaa-chan…'_

"Gaa-chan, you've changed. Don't be like this! It hurts me seeing you act like the world is your enemy!" I stepped closer until I was right in front of him. "I want to help—"

"Don't touch me so easily!" he pushed me off with his sand, none too gently, as I touched his shoulder. His sand slammed me to a wall, knocking the wind out of my lungs. He walked towards me threateningly as I sat against the wall, lightheaded.

"I don't need your help. I don't need help from anybody. Especially not from you." He said menacingly and disappeared.

I clenched my fists on the sand that Gaara used and shut my eyes, forcing the tears back. _'I have to be strong… I _should _be strong… I can't show him weakness. If I do, he won't take me seriously. I have to become stronger if I want Gaa-chan__ back.'_

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><p><em><strong>Few minutes later…<strong>_

"I'm home…" I noticed that the lights were on, signaling that Grandma Chiyo and Grandpa Ebizo were home.

"Welcome home." Grandpa Ebizo smiled warmly at me.

"Good, you made it back alive. I thought that by the end of this day, I had to teach a ghost for a student." I sweat dropped at Grandma Chiyo's words.

"Don't you believe in my ability to protect myself?"

"Of course I do. But you never know." She cryptically replied. "We'll be training tomorrow and the day after that."

I nodded, knowing that I had no say in this whatsoever and trudged up the stairs to my bedroom, telling the two elders that I will skip dinner tonight.

I lay on my bed without changing my clothes and just glanced at the ceiling, thinking of today's events. Suddenly, I regretted ever leaving Suna when I did. I could have prevented Gaara from becoming like how he is right now.

'_I'm sorry, Gaa-chan… that I left you to fend for yourself… all this time…'_

I knew that I had a long day tomorrow, and before I fell asleep, the last thing I saw in my mind was a certain stubborn red head as a tear slipped unbidden from my eyes.

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><p><strong>AN: **Please review. ^^ It will tell me what you think of my story. But please be kind in reviewing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: **I'm so sorry guys! It's been so long since I updateeed! With all the projects and-

**Jay: *interrupts me*** Excuses, excuses...

**Me: **Ahem! I'm still talking here!

**Jay: *rolls eyes* *eats a cookie***

**Me: **Anyway, before we were _rudely interrupted_ ***Jay acts all innocent*** I just had a bunch of tests and stuff, so yeah.

**Jay: **Who's gonna do the disclaimer? ***looks around for me*** Hey! Where'd you go? ***sees me bring Gaara*** Ah! Gaa-chan!

**Gaara: **...

**Me: **Hey, Gaara. Can you do the disclaimer this time? Pleaaaase?

**Gaara: **...

**Me: **C'mon! Pretty pleaaase!

**Gaara: **...

**Jay:** ***rolls her eyes then looks at Gaara*** Nee, Gaara-kun? Do you mind doing the disclaimer for me?

**Gaara: *nods***

**Me: **Why, Gaaraaa! ***crying*** Me and Jay are practically-we are-the same person! That's _ totally_ unfair!

**Jay:** ***pats my back*** It's okay, it's okay... He'll learn to love you too, don't worry. ***Looks at Gaara*** Disclaimer please!

**Gaara: ****JayTheCow does not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. *exits***

**Me and Jay: **Well... That was brief. Anyway, ENJOY!

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><p><strong>AN: PLEASE READ THIS TO AVOID CONFUSION. THIS CHAPTER INTRODUCES MY OTHER OCS. THE TIME SETTING FOR THIS IS THE NEXT DAY AFTER THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER.**

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><p><span>CHAPTER 3<span>

_The next day in the Leaf Village…_

Splat. Splat. Splat…

'_It's raining hard today… I can feel the coldness in the air, like nature is calling.'_ I stood up from my meditating position and softly walked to the window of the dojo and opened it. Cold air burst through the window, cooling my face and untying the white, loose ribbon I used to braid my dark violet hair. The wind played with my hair, making it dance the air and I smiled. Nature makes me feel so peaceful.

After a while, I felt something wet touch my feet and when I looked down, I saw rain water on the dojo floor. _'Aaaah! The floor!' _I immediately found a towel and wiped it. _'Geez, Aika… It was raining! Obviously the water would leak in…'_

"Young Miss! Why didn't you just call me to clean this up for you?" I turned around to see our maid by the door of the dojo as she hurried over to my side and gently took the towel from my hands. "Your father wouldn't want you to do things that are not meant for you to do."

"But-!" I protested standing up as she did, "I didn't want you to do it because it was my fault that the floor got wet."

"But it's my job, Young Miss." She smiled at me as she closed the window and finished cleaning the floor then bowed to me as she stood by the door. "Your mother and father would be coming home in the afternoon. If you will excuse me, Young Miss…"

I was supposed to meditate, but I can't help it. I went to my bedroom and changed from the traditional Hyuga robes: a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, patching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around the waist and black shinobi sandals to my white shirt with a black zip-up vest over it and loose black shorts until above the knee that fold at the waist, forming additional pockets at the front and a duster at the back that extends to my heels and ninja sandals. I went over to the mirror and inspected myself for any loose ends. I usually braidmy hair, but this time, I let it loose. I had side bangs which part at the left. Lastly, I stared into my white eyes tinged with lavender. My whole clan has white with a tinge of lavender eyes: the Hyuga clan. I am a Hyuga of the main branch, the cousin of the daughter of the main branch's leader.

While in my room, I packed a dry towel into a small bag and quietly exited the room and tiptoed my way downstairs. Nobody really goes into my room, so I'm safe.

I snuck out of our dojo and ran to the field, under the rain. I don't mind going under the rain. I love it, actually. As I ran, I felt its coldness seep into my skin. I went to the biggest tree in the field and left my ninja sandals and my bag there, hoping that they would stay dry.

"Kyaa! The rain is really beautiful!" I stood under the rain, smiling, as I spread my arms at my sides. "After all the heat and sunshine each day, this is paradise!"

I could feel the rain drench my clothes, in effect, sticking to my skin. Cool wind blew by, the flowers dancing in the influence of it and I giggled when the flowers and grass caressed my legs and bare feet, tickling me. I sighed contentedly as I raised my head and stared at the sky, feeling rain droplets fall on my face.

'_The world truly is beautiful. There are so many mysteries in the world to discover…'_

"You're gonna get sick if you stay there too long, Ai." A voice suddenly spoke up, cutting off my thoughts.

I gasped and turned around, surprised, when I recognized the owner of the voice. His thumbs were hooked on his pants as he leaned on the tree. He had his usual bored expression, though I saw a hint of amusement spark in those eyes. He has fairly long jet black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and has narrow brown eyes. He wore a green lined mesh shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges and at the back, though unseen now, a circle with a line through it. He has brown pants and the blue ninja sandals for Leaf ninjas. That's Shikamaru Nara. He's my one of my childhood friends. Actually, he's the first.

"Ah! Shika-kun!" I lightly blushed, but acted normal so that he wouldn't notice my blush. I went towards him and noticed that he was dry as I put on my sandals and got a towel.

"What are you doing here?" I inquired when I leaned on the tree beside him and turned my head to look at him. "I thought you'd be in your house…sleeping."

"Tsk. I'm not that lazy." He closed his eyes but cracked one open after I giggled. "What is it now?"

"But you _are _lazy, Shika-kun!" I stuck my tongue at him playfully. "Seriously, why _are _you here?"

"Why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing? I just wanted to take a walk…" he looked away, so to not meet my eyes.

"Shika-kuuuun…" I scrutinized him doubtfully.

Shikamaru Nara? _Walk? _How is that possible? He's _the _laziest person here! Even talking is 'a drag' for him. Sure he's smart and all that, but a _lazy_ smart kind of guy. I've known him for years, and walking is out of the question. He hates moving even _just a muscle!_ I think something fishy is going on…

"Tsk! Troublesome girl! Fine. You caught me, you caught me." He raised his hands in mock surrender when he rolled his eyes with a light blush on his cheeks. "Maybe I just followed you here to make sure you don't get yourself hurt or sick, alright?"

I blinked, surprised, and unknowingly dropped the towel that I've been using to dry myself with. It's pretty useless, though, since I am still far from dry. _'He's worried about me? We might actually get somewhere here.'_

"I was just walking past your dojo when your mo—I mean, your maid—asked me to look for you since you were not there and asked me to make sure you didn't get sick…" he took a long sigh, masking his almost slip-up. "Man… this is such a drag. I'm not a servant, you know… oh, and if you _do _ask your maid, she'll pretend she doesn't know… it _was _supposed to be a secret, since it would be her fault if you disappeared from the dojo in her care…" he added after some thought, wishing that his logic makes sense at this predicament he was in.

I sweatdropped. _'Fine. Maybe we _aren't _gonna get anywhere…'_ then right after that thought, I sneezed.

"Oh man! You _are _such a troublesome girl!" he sighed exasperatedly while scratching the back of his head. "Why did I have to get involved in this?"

"Ehehehe… sorry." I smiled sheepishly and shivered so I ran my hands up and down my arms, "so cold…"

Shikamaru frowned, shrugged off his short sleeved jacket and handed it to me.

"Here… Take it… Your cold _will _get worse if you stay soaked any longer than you have." He looked off to the side, a blush tinting his cheeks once again.

"Thank you, Shika-kun…" I blushed as I put it on. I snuggled in it, smiling when the warmth seeped through me. Mmm... Shikamaru smells like finely crushed pine needles...

We stood beside each other in companionable silence for a couple of minutes until the sun peeked out of the clouds, its rays shooting down onto the ground, revealing the water droplets that covered the plants. When the clouds dispersed, I saw something amazing.

"A rainbow! No, it's a double rainbow!" I ran to the fields while looking up at the rainbows in awe. "This is so amazing! Hey, Shika-kun! Take a look at it!"

When I turned to him, I saw a glimpse of him smiling, but right after I blinked, it disappeared so I thought of it as an illusion. When he came closer, that was the time I noticed a hint of the smile lingering in his eyes.

"No. It's a triple rainbow." He unexpectedly said. I turned my eyes to the rainbows and squinted at them… and it revealed a third rainbow!

"The world is so much like a great big puzzle…" I mused. "We won't figure out its secrets if we all don't work together…"

I could feel Shikamaru's gaze on me for a moment before he started walking towards the tree.

"C'mon. I'll walk you home…" I nodded and walked after him.

* * *

><p><em>(time skip)<em>

**3rd person point of view**

"Thank you, Shika-kun for walking me home." Aika smiled warmly at him as the stopped in front of the dojo.

"Yeah. It was nothing… What kind of a man would I be if I won't walk you back?" he smirked at her, "Take care of yourself, alright? … Troublesome girl…"

"Hehe. I will if you will." She blushed and came forward, hugging Shikamaru, who was definitely surprised of the gesture.

"Okay, okay… Don't get too clingy now, Ai…" Shikamaru patted her head with a blush creeping into his cheeks until she let go.

He watched her as she opened the doors and waved at him.

"See you tomorrow, Shika-kun!"

"Yeah." He nodded his head with his thumbs hooked at his pants.

After the doors closed, he turned to the direction of his house and sighed while scratching the back of his head with his hand.

"What a drag… Damn perceptive troublesome girls…"

* * *

><p><em>The same day (different character), but on the rainy time…<em>

Splat. Splat. Splat…

"It's raining pretty hard today…" I looked up at the sky from my umbrella. "It's so cold too… I should have worn warmer clothes…"

I just wore my usual clothes: my light green sleeveless shirt that came until my hips, my skirt that's cut in the front until the middle of my right thigh and my black tight shorts underneath. I also wore my arm warmers (like Sasuke), with green trims at the edges, which goes from above my elbow until my wrist, which had no buckles at the wrist so it flows freely, I wore my ninja sandals and under my knees are my leg warmers, which had green trims at the edges with two buckles under the knees and a buckle above my ankles.

I went out today, feeling like walking. Actually, I just planned to visit my knuckleheaded and goofy best friend, but when I entered his apartment, he wasn't there. So obviously, I went out, with an umbrella, to search for him.

'_Don't tell me he went outside without an umbrella or anything…' _I thought worriedly to myself as the cold wind lifted my dark green hair, which was tied into two buns at each side of my head. I had bangs and I tied some of my long hair at the sides of my head, in effect, covering my ears, at the tips. The rest of my long hair reaches until the little of my back, my hair becoming curly at the bottom. (A/N: Gaah! I hate describing her hair! Just please check out **Primera from Tsubasa Chronicles**)

Klang. Klang. Thud! "Argh! Dammit!"

My eyes widened as I heard the voice and followed it, wading through the deep vegetation and saw my knuckleheaded, goofy best friend practicing with his kunais. He had blue eyes, and had spiky blonde hair, which is now damp from the rain, so it's totally not spiky right now. Whisker marks were on his cheeks, and he doesn't like me mentioning it, but he's shorter than usual boys his age. He wore an orange tracksuit with blue on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, a large white collar, orange pants, and blue ninja sandals. He was spread eagled on the ground; panting and his eyes were closed.

A couple of targets were hung from trees, and some on the ground. Not only were that, but a lot of kunais and shurikens scattered everywhere too. If someone's not careful, someone could get hurt.

"Naru-kun… What are you doing, lying on the ground? Do you want to get sick or something?" I chided him after I walked towards him, shielding his face from the rain through my umbrella.

"Gah!" Surprized, Naruto jumped upwards and waved his arms around animatedly. He landed on the ground and…slipped, falling onto his butt.

"Pfft!" I covered my mouth with my right hand while Naruto was rubbing his butt with a comically pained expression.

"Ow, ow, ow…"

"N-Naru-k-kun… A-are yo-you O-OK?" I tried to make a comprehensible sentence, but I couldn't, try as hard as I can. It was seriously _too _funny. By this time, I was shaking, attempting to control my laughter, but it was too much. I shook so much that I let go of the umbrella to clutch my stomach, a fit of giggles escaping from my mouth, as Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground.

"S-stop laughing at m-me, Joy-c-chan!" Naruto stuttered while looking at the ground, blushing.

"S-sorry…I'm OK now…" I picked up my umbrella, shook it and used it again, though it's useless, since I'm already soaked by the rain. "Naru-kun, what's up? I've never seen you so serious about something _this _much…"

"That bastard Sasuke… He thinks he's so cool…" Naruto glared at the ground. "Just because he's a 'genius' doesn't mean he could just show it off all the time…"

'_Naru-kun's… jealous?' _I crouched in front of him and placed the umbrella in a way so that both of us could be sheltered from the pouring rain as he continued.

"All girls like him… Especially Sakura-chan…" Something irked in me as he said her name. "Why don't _you _like him, Joy-chan?"

"Because I'm not like the rest. I _think_ that there's someone who I _might _like already." I looked at him and smiled. "C'mon, cheer up. I'll treat you to some ramen, if you'd like."

Like a charm, Naruto perked up and went under the umbrella with me as he chanted,

"Ramen! Ichiraku Ramen! Ramen! Ichiraku Ramen!"

* * *

><p><em>(time skip…) <em>

"Third bowl of ramen, please!" Naruto happily received his request and slurped at it with vigor as I watched him, my head on my palm, my elbow resting on the table.

"Joy-chan, are you sure it's OK if you treat Naruto-kun to _this _much ramen?" Teuchi's daughter inquired, worried about my money.

"Yeah. He's gonna sweep your wallet clean, Joy!" Teuchi guffawed, grinning at me.

"Nah! Don't worry about it!" I waved it off. "Even if Naru-kun goes on full throttle, I won't run out of money."

"And why is that, Joy-chan?" Teuchi's daughter smiled, expecting a joke from me as she lifted the two bowls that Naruto ate in.

"Grandpa Ho _never _runs out of money, does he?" I giggled at my nickname for the Third _Ho_kage. The Hokage is not my blood relative, but he _did _adopt me when I needed someone to look after me.

"Th-the Third Hokage? Joy-chan? Seriously… The _Third Hokage_?" Teuchi tried to laugh it off, but it was a shakey laugh. Nobody would even try to poke at the Hokage, even though everybody loves him.

"I'm serious." I deadpanned but smirked as I saw their reactions.

Crash! Teuchi's daughter dropped the bowls, then…

…Silence…

"So you could treat me to ramen _any time_?" Naruto set his finished bowl of ramen down and grinned at me, unfazed.

I sweatdropped, expecting him to freak out or something but nodded nonetheless. Well, Naruto wasn't called unpredictable for nothing.

"Alright! I'll chow down as much as I can! Believe it!" He gave me a thumbs up while grinning mischievously.

"Oh, I _do _believe you, Naru-kun. Yes, I _do_." I laughed with him and stood up. "I gotta go, Naru-kun! Teuchi-san, please put it on Grandpa Ho's tab. I'll pay as soon as I ask money from him."

Teuchi nodded slowly, clearly _still _shocked. I giggled at his shell shocked face.

"See ya tomorrow, Naru-kun! And don't you dare go out in the rain without an umbrella, alright?"

"Yeah! Believe it!" He waved and grinned as I waved back and made my way to the Hokage Tower.

* * *

><p><em>Same day (different character...again), rainy time…<em>

Splat. Splat. Splat…

I looked up at the grey sky and closed my eyes, while leaning on the tree, arms crossed. I listened to each splatter water droplet make as they fall onto the ground, I heard the wind's melancholy song drifting in the air, I heard the rustle of the leaves and the bushes as the wind traveled by… All these I heard, but something's missing… no animals… Usually, I'd feel the scuttling of ants as they scavenged for food, beating of bird wings as it flies overhead, far or near, taps on the floor as animals chased after each other… But I felt none.

"It's quiet…" I opened my eyes halfway, "Almost _too _quiet…-"

All of a sudden, I felt vibrations, so I placed my palm on the tree trunk while closing my eyes in concentration and I sensed…two—no—three footsteps running… followed by ten more. A draft of wind blew by and a scent came to me… an all too familiar metallic scent…

'_I smell blood…'_

Right after that thought, three Leaf ninjas came into my view. They came from the bushes, panting. One of them was wounded, but the other two didn't seem to notice it yet.

"We're surrounded!" the wounded ninja informed them, surprisingly managing to hide his discomfort. "I sensed them coming from all sides!"

"What do we do, sir?" the other ninja turned to the captain, obviously trying not to sound extremely worried. The captain attempted to communicate using the communicator on his neck but all he heard was a broken radio sound.

"This should be interesting." I watched them, amused.

"Damn! I can't contact the other squads… They might have been taken out by our pursuers." The captain cursed. "Run, for now!"

And in a puff of smoke, they disappeared.

"Heh. They're fast." I mused as I ran after them, deciding to see what would happen next.

* * *

><p><strong>3<strong>**rd**** person point of view**

The wounded ninja stopped, breathing hard, no longer able to hide his pain.

"What's wrong?" the other ninja asked then gasped, turning to the captain. "Captain! He's wounded!"

"Why… Why didn't you tell us?" the captain demanded of him.

"I-I'm sorry, C-captain…" the wounded ninja gasped and clutched his abdomen where blood started to appear. "I-I thought I-I c-could handle it, s-sir…"

"I could get help, sir, but it's impossible to escape without being seen, sir." The other ninja informed the captain.

"Tch!" The captain gritted his teeth in frustration. "You. Both of you escape. Leave me here. As long as I know my men are safe, I'll be ready to accept my fate."

"But, sir! We can't just—!" both men protested but were cut off as someone spoke.

"Need some help, gentlemen?"

The three of them looked around, alarmed, as the two came nearer their wounded partner, protecting him.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" the captain demanded, poised to fight.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." They heard someone jump from the tree and started to walk towards them. "My dear friend, is that how you treat someone who's willing to help you?"

From the shadows came a boy, no older than 15, wearing a tattered black cape with a hood that currently covered his face, held in place over his shoulders and lower face by several buckles. They didn't see what else he was wearing since the black cape covered his body. But as he moved, they saw a glimpse of his silvery blue spiky hair peeking out of his hood.

"Listen, _boy_." The captain snapped, "Now's not the time to play games. If you think you are stronger than us, you are highly mistaken."

"Don't underestimate me." The boy said coldly. "In your current condition, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere, much less escape by yourselves. Now, go."

"Why you little—!"

"Sir! I am sorry for the insubordination, but I am telling you: the boy is right. We should trust him. Whether or not he's a boy doesn't matter. Let's go." The captain gritted his teeth. "I know that we are in a pinch, but you shouldn't lose your cool. Swallow your pride… _sir._"

"Fine." The captain relented. "Tell me first: Who _are _you?"

"_That_, my friend, is a secret." A stray moonlight passed and under the hood, the boy was smirking. A mischievous smirk.

"If I learn that you betrayed us…"

"You won't find me." The boy said as he turned around to face the upcoming assailants. "Listen, gentlemen, you don't have much time. Go flee to the east gate. I'll take care of these weaklings."

"Yes." The other ninja replied before the captain could say any biting remarks, since he looked like a bunch of them just entered his mind. "Thank you."

All of them disappeared into a puff of smoke without another word. Then in a sudden movement, the boy got surrounded by the 10 assailants.

The one who appeared to be the leader came forward and sneered.

"Oh! It's just a _boy_. Weaklings, those Leaf ninja are. Poor you. You had to do this, didn't you? Well, the weakest always gets left behind anyway." He jeered at him. "I bet you wouldn't even manage to put up a fight… I pity you—ack!"

Without batting an eyelash, the ''boy'' appeared behind the leader with a threatening aura arising.

'_I-I didn't see him move!'_ the leader's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"You should know not to underestimate your enemies, my friend."

* * *

><p><em>(from the Leaf Village, smoke is seen in the forest)<em>

* * *

><p>"Who… Who are you?" the leader frantically looked around and saw his men swallowed by the rising inferno currently surrounding them. Terrified, he looked into the boy's eyes. "You're not <em>just <em>a boy! Please! Please spare me! I won't go back here ever again! I promise I would change! Just... please spare me!"

"So many questions you humans (1) ask… but such a pity. You humans beg for mercy when in the face of death. You humans do everything to live and survive. How pitiful…" the ''boy'' shook his head, disgusted. "But… no mercy shall be given to the likes of you." The boy stretched out his hand behind him as a black scythe materialized on the palm of his hand. Under the moonlight, each bend and curve of the scythe was pronounced.

"The Leaf Village should _never _be messed with. No harm shall befall on this village as long as I am alive. Remember that as you go to the other side." At that moment, the boy appeared like the true grim reaper, the bringer of death as he brandished the scythe. The leader shook in fear as he stared into those eyes as black as death, unable to move as he heard, saw, felt, and smelt his last…

"Sweet dreams, my friend."

* * *

><p>(1) The way he said 'humans' is just an expression that he usually says. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's not a human.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Please review! Reviewing will help me know what you think of the story.

(But please be kind in reviewing...)


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: **Sooooooooo.. Here's the next chappie! XD Sorry for the suuuuuper late update! Just so many projects and tests and all that shiz... Anyway-

**Joy: *enters while munching on Pocky* **Hi ho, everyone! XD Nice to meet you all! XD

**Me:** Hey! Joy! I haven't even said-

**Joy: **So! How's life, everyone? Fine? Good! XD If everyone's happy, then I'm happy! ***gets another Pocky and munches on it***

**Me:** Hey... Joooy... ***evil aura*** Can you just-

**Joy: *grins happily, all together ignoring me* ** _Finally_ I can do the disclaimer! Yaay! Meow! XD

**Me: **JOOOOOY! ***Joy looked at me, surprized***

**Joy:** Oh. I didn't see you there... Oops.

**Me: *facepalm*** Anyway, as I was sayin-

**Joy: *laughs and hands me a** **Pocky* **Geez! I didn't know you wanted to have a Pocky! You should have told me a LOOONG time ago!

**Me: *falls on the ground, anime style and I sweatdropped and facepalmed at the same time*** ... Nevermind.

**Joy: *blink blink blink* **Okaay then! XD Here's the disclaimer!

**Joy: JayTheCow _sadly_ does not own Naruto because if she _did_, then... I'd be real! (Well, actually I _am_ real, but, oh well) Anyway, Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto. (I'd want to own him, though. Tee hee!)**

ENJOY!

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"The Leaf Village should never be messed with. No harm shall befall on this village as long as I am alive. Remember that as you go to the other side." The boy stretched out his hand behind him as a black scythe materialized on the palm of his hand. Under the moonlight, each bend and curve of the scythe was pronounced. At that moment, the boy appeared like the true grim reaper, the bringer of death as he brandished the scythe. The leader shook in fear as he stared into those eyes as black as death, unable to move as he heard, saw, felt, and smelt his last…_

_"Sweet dreams, my friend."_

* * *

><p><span>CHAPTER 4<span>

_The next day in the Leaf Village…_

**3rd person POV**

"Ugh… Where's Iruka-sensei?" Joy complained to no one in particular, her chin on the crook of her elbow as she rested her arms on the table.

She was in a classroom with two columns of five long tables. Each row is elevated so that the students at the back could see the teacher and the black board which is oddly clean probably because the class clown is not here. The teacher's supposed to be in front of the black board, but it seems like the teacher's not here. Mostly _all_ the time, the class would be bored when the teacher's here, but now that he's _not_, they have no reason to be bored, which makes them _more _bored than ever.

Sitting in front of Joy are two boys, beside Joy's Shikamaru, And behind him is Aika who is beside a girl that oddly looks similar to Aika. At the table beside her sits a pink-haired girl and a silent-looking boy. In front of them is a long haired girl giggling over a onyx haired boy who obviously looked pissed. Among her classmates, one is missing.

"Nee, Shikamaru-kun!" she turned to her right, addressing him. Shikamaru was leaning backwards on his chair with his hands behind his head, eyes closed, and feet on the table.

"Trying to get an answer from him is useless, Joy-chan! Right, Akamaru?"

"Yip! Yip!"

A boy in front of Shikamaru snickered before the puppy on his head yipped, agreeing with his master. The boy has messy brown hair, sharp onyx black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils and noticeable canine teeth. He also has the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. He wore dark grayish pants reaching to his calves and a gray, hooded fur-lined coat. He'd usually put his hood up, but as of now he isn't and he wears the Leaf ninja sandals.

On his head is a small puppy with white fur. Akamaru's eyes are usually closed and he has a dark brown nose, as well as dark brown patches on his ears and a dark outline around his mouth. His fur on top of his head is styled to somewhat resemble a Mohawk.

"Tsk. This is so troublesome. You guys are _so _noisy. Especially you, Kiba. Can't you guys see that someone is _trying _to _sleep_? Tsk. Even just explaining is such a waste of breath. And also a drag to boot." Shikamaru cracked open one eye and glared at them then closed his eyes after.

Behind Shikamaru, Aika was giggling at his usual attitude. If Shikamaru _did_ hear it, he probably just ignored it.

"Guys. *munch munch* Stop bothering Shikamaru. *munch munch swallow*" A chubby boy holding a pack of chips told them off. He has spiky brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and like the rest of his clan, he has a much more healthy physique than other ninjas. He wore brown shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved green jacket over a white shirt with the Akimichi clan's kanji for food, 'shoku', on it. He wore small hoop earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages.

"Eating again, Choji? If you overdo it, you'll definitely get fa—" Kiba was silenced by Aika's reproachful stare. She had a great feeling that calling Choji 'fat' would be crossing the line.

"I-I think that Iruka-sensei is f-finding N-Naruto-kun…" A soft-spoken girl beside Aika stuttered. She has dark blue hair, fair skin, and white eyes with a tinge of lavender which were similar to Aika's since she also holds the Byakugan. She's part of the main branch; therefore, she's the cousin of Aika. Her hair is in a short, leveled hime-cut style above her forehead, with chin-length strands framing her face. She wore a cream-colored hooded jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem, with navy blue pants.

"Aah, talking about 'Naruto-kun' again today, are we, eh? Hinata?" Kiba smirked at Hinata's embarrassed expression.

"I-I was only a-answering the question t-that y -you guys didn't a-answer…" Hinata blushed furiously at Kiba's joke while playing with her thumbs. "I-It d-doesn't mean that… I-I… N-Naruto-k-kun…"

"Then why are you blushing?" Kiba grinned mischievously at Hinata right before a fluffy pencil case was chucked at his face. (**A/N:** Oh! I rhymed!) "Ow! What was that for?"

"Kiba-kun. It was funny at first but seriously. That's pushing it. You _know_ how Hina-chan is. Why push it?" Aika sternly, but kindly, chided the mischievous boy. "And besides, my pencil case is _soft_. It doesn't hurt _at all_."

"Easy for you to say… I said I was kidding, _Angel_." Kiba said defiantly, crossing his arms while sticking out his tongue out as if saying, _'Yeah, yeah. I know. Sorry.'_

"Geez… There goes the nickname again." Aika lightly blushed. "I _told _you guys to stop calling me that. Just when will you guys stop calling me 'Angel'?"

"We won't, _Angel_." Joy teased her, finally finding a distraction as to not worsen her boredom. "It is and will forever be your nickname."

Aika is the 'Angel' among the rookies, since, well, she's kind to everyone, though she could be pretty sly sometimes. She doesn't stop the others from having fun, but when it gets too out of hand, she tells them off.

Aika sighed, knowing it was hopeless to stop them from calling her the nickname, and saw a glimpse of a smirk from Shikamaru but before she could say anything, the door slid open with a sharp sound and in came their long-awaited sensei, Iruka, with Naruto in tow. Iruka has brown hair that he keeps in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar across the bridge of his nose which he probably had since he was young. He wears the required Leaf ninja outfit with his forehead protector, flak jacket and sandals. Naruto was tied up with a thick rope so that he couldn't escape and was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Everyone looked at Iruka and saw that he was visibly pissed.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto! You _failed _the graduation tests last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance, and you're _messing it up again_!" Iruka lectured Naruto in front of the class while glaring at him.

"Hmph!" Naruto dismissed his sensei's warnings and looked to the side. Iruka got annoyed at Naruto's indifference so he did what he thought he should.

"Fine! Because you _missed _it, Naruto, _everyone_ will review the transformation jutsu!" (**A/N: **Wow! I can't believe that I didn't notice that Iruka-sensei rhymed before now.)

"Whaaat?" Everyone whined, not wanting to review the jutsu and still in their bumming mode.

"Oh, Naru-kun…" Joy facepalmed. Of all the things… _this _is the _worst_.

"Sure… Leave it to _Naruto_ to give us some trouble that we are very well happy without." Kiba shook his head and followed the line.

"Tsk! This is such a _drag_. I just wanna stay home and stare at the clouds. Who cares about this stupid test anyway?" Shikamaru scowled but followed nonetheless.

"But-but N-Naruto-kun's j-just—"Hinata started before Aika placed a hand on her shoulder, cutting her off gently.

"I know it's pretty…um…" Aika paused, thinking of a word that's synonymous to irritating that would sound kind but failed. "Well, at least we could practice." She smiled positively at the others, who nodded, though hesitantly, knowing that their 'Angel' makes sense.

First came Sakura, a long pink-haired girl with green eyes and fair skin. She wore a body hugging dress with white circular designs, with a zipper, tight dark green shorts and blue ninja sandals.

"All right! Sakura here! Let's do it! Transform!" She announced with her loud, girly voice and did a hand sign. After the puff of smoke dissipated, she exactly copied Iruka then transformed back to herself.

"Good." With a clipboard on hand, Iruka nodded approvingly at her.

"I did it!" Sakura cheered with a smile on her face. _'Chaa! I kicked butt!'_ her inner Sakura shouted, on fire.

"Sasuke-kun, did you see that?" She immediately acted cute and looked at Sasuke, trying to impress him.

"Next. Sasuke Uchiha."

A blacked haired boy with blue tints on his hair came forward. He has onyx black eyes, bangs that hang on both sides of his face that roughly framed his cheeks and his hair is spiky in the back. (**A/N**: Doesn't it look _so _much like a duck butt?) To many girls, he's a handsome boy and a heartthrob. He wore a blue, short sleeved shirt with a raised collar and the Uchiha crest on the back, white arm warmers, white shorts and blue Leaf ninja sandals.

Silently, Sasuke transformed into Iruka and went back to his original form.

"Good." Iruka nodded again. "Next. Naruto Uzumaki."

"This is a _total_ waste of _time_, Naruto." Shikamaru drawled from behind Naruto.

"We _always_ pay for _your_ screw-ups." A blue eyed and blonde haired girl scowled beside Shikamaru. Her blonde hair is in a ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. Her hair reaches down until her waist. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers.

"Like I care." Naruto grumbled, grumpy, and looked to the side and saw Joy give him two thumbs up.

'_You can do it!'_ she mouthed at him.

He flashed her a smile, stood up in front of Iruka and smirked.

At the middle of the line, Hinata observed Naruto while blushing. She stood beside their most silent classmate, Shino Aburame. He has dark bushy brown hair, pale skin and he was the tallest in their class. He wears the same style of clothes as his clan: dark sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar.

'_Naruto-kun…'_ Hinata thought to herself as she played with her fingers. _'Do your best!'_

Naruto assumed a stance, emitting lots of chakra.

"Transform!"

Instead of another copy of Iruka-sensei, out came a naked older girl version of Naruto. As Joy saw this, she fell over in shock, Aika and the others suppressed their sighs.

'_Oh, Naru-kun…'_ Joy shook her head wryly. _'I should have expected no less from you…'_

"Gotcha! That's my sexy jutsu!" Naruto laughed at Iruka's pale face.

"Calm your stupid tricks! This is your last warning!" Iruka shouted at the trickster with tissue shoved up his nostrils because of the immense nosebleed he's currently suffering.

Little did they know, a silver blue haired ninja who appeared to be a 15 year old stood in the shadows watched their little skit.

"They appear as foolish as one another." The 15 year old mused to himself. "Well, at least it keeps things entertaining."

* * *

><p><em>(time skip)<em>

RIIIING!

"Class dismissed."

"T-tomorrow's the exam…" Hinata mumbled as the rookies made their way outside. "We all h-have to do our best tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Aika nodded. "We _all_ have to pass this. _Bumming around_ won't help, don't you think so, Shika-kun?"

"_Don't_ drag me into this, Ai…" Shikamaru grumbled after seeing Aika's obvious accusation. "Tsk… Troublesome girl…"

At the corner of Joy's eye, she saw Iruka-sensei going towards the mountain Hokage faces with Naruto. She immediately turned her attention at the rookies.

"Haha! Who do you guys think we are?" She grinned at them as she waved goodbye to them. "_Obviously_ we'll all do our best!"

"Where ya goin' Joy-chan?" Kiba questioned her and Akamaru, in turn, yipped.

"Ah… about that. Just, yeah… a few things to take care of." She jerked her thumb in a general direction.

"Well, I'll be off! See you guys tomorrow!"

Kiba raised his eyebrows questioningly before grinning and waving her good bye. "Okay, then. See ya Joy!"

"See you tomorrow, Joy-chan!" Hinata smiled.

"Bye-bye, Joy-chan!" Aika grinned and waved.

"*munch munch* See ya, Joy-chan! *munch*" Choji… munched.

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded.

"Hn…" Sasuke slightly inclined his head.

"See you tomorrow, Joy-chaaaaaaaan!" Sakura and Ino had a fight on whoever said it louder.

"…" Shino just nodded.

"Hmm… I wonder why she was such in a hurry…?" Ino wondered while having a cat fight with Sakura, but after that sentence, Sakura paused as well.

Even though it doesn't show, Ino, Sakura, Aika, Hinata and Joy were good friends. Of course they would be. Girls should stick together. They only started drifting apart a bit because Sakura and Ino's competition sometimes go overboard that the only thing they do was bicker.

"Maybe she's off looking for Naruto, nee, Akamaru?" Akamaru yipped an affirmation. "You know, even though I've known her for years, sometimes, I just couldn't understand her."

"Obviously. She's still a _girl_, Kiba." Aika, Sakura and Ino deadpanned.

"J-just because s-she's mostly with you boys d-doesn't mean that she's n-not a girl…" Hinata mumbled softly but strongly. Silence immediately washed over them right after that statement. For a few seconds, nobody dared speak. And even if they did, they couldn't. _Did Hinata just talk back? What happened to the shy and timid girl?_

"Okay, okay. Enough of this. I'm definitely _not_ going to watch you guys stare blankly into space. That's just a drag." Shikamaru yawned. "C'mon, Choji, Ai. Let's go."

But before they could walk any farther, they heard Sakura and Ino giggling.

"You and Angel go home together?" Both girls slyly smiled.

"_Duh._ What do you think?" Shikamaru turned to stare at them, irritation etched on his face. "And stop poking around other people's business. It's annoying."

"Um… See you guys." Aika blushed as Sakura and Ino grinned at her and after a few seconds, the others said their good byes and left for their homes.

* * *

><p><em>With Joy (time skip)<em>

1st person POV

"Naru-kun! There you are! I just _knew_ I'd find you here!" I entered the ramen shop and sure enough, I found my best friend slurping on ramen.

"Oh, hey, Joy-chan!" Naruto grinned at me. "You totally missed it! Iruka-sensei treated me to some ramen! He just left a few moments before you arrived."

'_Yeah. _Some_ ramen.'_ I sweatdropped as I stared at the pile of finished ramen bowls in front of Naruto. By this time, Naruto just finished his last ramen bowl, so both of us waved goodbye to Teuchi-san and his daughter.

"So, what did I miss?" I asked him as we started walking.

"Iruka-sensei made me clean up the mess I did on the faces. The only reason why I did it quickly was because he was gonna treat me to ramen." I laughed. _Of course_ Naruto would do anything for ramen. "Then, we talked about the Hokages. He also asked me why I wanted to vandalize the faces. I told him that I want to be the next Hokage.

"I want to be the best Hokage ever…" He gazed into my eyes seriously, as if searching for an answer. "Joy... do you think that I could do it?"

I gasped, taken aback. _'Naruto Uzumaki is asking for _my _opinion?'_

'_Well, of course he is!'_ I mentally slapped myself. _'He's my best friend, and I am his. _Of course_ he'll ask for my opinion.'_

I observed my best friend who was waiting for my answer. This is the other side of Naruto that _no one _has ever seen. And when I say no one, I _mean_ no one. He wouldn't ever let anyone see this side of him, only to me he would. This is his unsure and vulnerable side. Whenever he had doubts, he'll _always_ go to me, never anyone else.

"Oh, Naruto…" I hugged him tightly and grinned at him. "_Of course _you can do it! Whatever happened to your determined self?"

"You think so?" Naruto smiled at me, but it doesn't reach his eyes. It feels so horrible seeing him _this_ down. It's like you kicked an innocent little puppy.

"Naru-kun! Toughen up!" I punched him lightly on the head. I _have_ to cheer him up. Gloomy Naruto is _not _Naruto _at all_. "If you don't pull yourself back together, I will seriously _never_ buy you ramen _ever again_!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Naruto chased me around with a mischievous grin on his face. I guess he figured out that my taunt was only a ruse. I giggled, running away from him as we came near the river. "Heey! Come back here, Joy-chan!"

"Catch me if you can, Naru-kuun!" I stuck my tongue at him and stopped running when I came beside the river and looked back at him right when his foot decided to trip on a rock… Because of his clumsiness, he started rolling down… towards me.

"Gaah! Joy-chan! Get out of the waaaay—"

SPLASH!

Gah! The water was really cold! And the next thing I knew, I was staring up at Naruto's sky blue eyes, our noses barely touching. It was only a few seconds after when my mind registered the position we were in. _Really awkward._

"Um… Naru-kun… You're heavy…"

"Ack! I-I'm s-sorry, J-Joy-c-chan!" Naruto jumped up and stuttered, a deep shade of red coloring his face. He sat cross legged on the river while lightly scratching his cheek, still blushing, as I propped myself up with my hands and sat down too. I clenched my hand on my chest, feeling my erratic heartbeat, when Naruto wasn't looking. _'It's beating so fast..._ Why _in the world is it beating so fast?'_

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… it's not raining yet we _still _got ourselves wet." I shook my head wryly, putting off the feeling. For now.

"Ehehe… yeah… It seems like it…"

"You are just _so_ clumsy, you know that, Naru-kun?" I laughed, happy that I somehow made Naruto get out of his sadness.

"Yeah." Naruto laughed with me as we sat comfortably for a few minutes before Naruto broke the silence.

"Thank you… Joy-chan." I started to tell him that he didn't need to thank me but he cut me off. "No, Joy-chan.. I _should_ thank you. You did so much for me… Now, you don't have to because from now on, you'll just have to leave everything to me! I'll make sure to do everything I could do for you, Joy-chan!"

* * *

><p><em>…around the same time… with Aika<em>

1st person POV

I sat on the tree just taking in the view. I _was _supposed to train and meditate but I just didn't feel it. So I made my way outside, found a perch on the branch of the tree and sat there. Right at that time, I was wearing a simple, loose-fitting robe with different colored trimmings, and an undershirt.

"Tomorrow's the exam…" I whispered to myself. "I hope everyone passes."

"That would definitely happen if everyone's ready." A bored voice spoke from below.

"Ack! Shika-kun!" I blushed, gasped and clutched my chest, clearly surprised. "Stop popping up at random times and then surprising me!"

"S'not my fault you get surprised easily." He shrugged, "Why are you up there anyway? You could fall… Troublesome girl."

I hopped from the branch and landed on the ground softly beside Shikamaru.

"I see you're finally doing your chores, Shika-kun." I stuck my tongue out at him and smiled, pertaining to his plastic bags on hand. Shikamaru sighed at my playful insult, not offended at all.

"Why are you called 'Angel'? You're never like an 'Angel' whenever I'm around…" Shikamaru grumbled. "Troublesome girl…"

"But… it's so fun teasing you, Shika-kun!" I pouted. "And besides, I'm not always kind, you know… I got angry at Kiba-kun today, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and lifted the white plastic bags held by his hands. "Have to go home… such a drag… My mom made me buy stuff… had no choice. Mom could be scary sometimes."

He sighed exasperatedly, "And she knows it's the exams tomorrow and yet she _still_ asks me to do these stuff… anyway, it's getting late. See you."

"Okay, then. See you tomorrow, Shika-kun!" I gave him my sweetest smile while blushing and hugged him. "You better pass tomorrow, Shika-kun!"

"Yeah. You better pass too…" Shikamaru, blushing, patted my head and smirked. "Troublesome girl…"

I detached myself from him and jumped up the tree branch then waved. "Goodnight! Sweet dreams!"

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded. "You too." He turned his back to me and walked towards his house.

_'I'm _always _like this when I'm around him... I'm so lucky that I was able to hide it at all.' _I made a long sigh and looked up at the sky, trying to calm my thundering heart beat.

'_Tomorrow's gonna be a long day…'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Please review! XD You know, it's just _really_ simple to click the review button, so if you're _not_ Shikamaru who's _so_ lazy, click it. Pleaaaaaaaase leave kind reviews. Reviews help me know what you think of my story. So _please_. :


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: **I'm so so so so sorry guys for the super long wait! :((((( I know that it's really overdue. I did so many things recently... so... yeah... *cough* anyway... so... for the disclaimer...

**(a voice)**: NA-RU-TO! ***thundering footsteps***

**Naruto: *****ran behind my back and cowered there***

**Me: **Uh. Hi Naruto! Watcha doin there?

**Naruto: *gulps* **H-hiding...

**Joy: *comes here, angry* **Where is Naruto? ***points a kunai at me* **Authoress! Where is he?

**Me: *blinks* **Uhhhh...

**Naruto:** ***whispers to me while whining* **Don't tell her! Pleaase! She'll kill me!

**Me: **huh.

**Naruto: **Please oh please oh PLEASE, Most Powerful Authoress who-can-control-our-lives-so-please-save-me!

**Me: **Weeeeell, since you asked oh so kindly... Hey Joy!

**Joy: *****turns towards me* **Yes? Did you find him?

**Me: *points somewhere* **I think he went that-a-way.

**Joy: *grins evilly* **Thanks, authoress! See ya! ***ran off, laughing madly***

**Me: **Now, WHAT did you do?

**Naruto: *stutters* **Uh... uuh... well... you see... ehehe...

**Me: *rolls eyes* **Well, you can tell me that later, now! Do the disclaimer!

**Naruto: *nods enthusiastically* **

**JayTheCow does not own... uh... me, for that matter, Kishimoto-sensei does! She only owns her OCs (like the one who was trying to kill me)! **

**ENJOY!**

* * *

><p><strong>Guys, the setting for this one is the Sand Village. Just a hint: Usually, I'll change settings every two chapters. Usually. I don't know if I will change it in the future. But don't worry! I'll inform you guys.<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_I lay on my bed without changing my clothes and just glanced at the ceiling, thinking of today's events. Suddenly, I regretted ever leaving Suna when I did. I could have prevented Gaara from becoming like how he is right now._

_'I'm sorry, Gaa-chan… that I left you to fend for yourself… all this time…'_

_I knew that I had a long day tomorrow, and before I fell asleep, the last thing I saw in my mind was a certain stubborn red head as a tear slipped unbidden from my eyes._

* * *

><p><span>CHAPTER<span> 5

_The next day in the Sand Village…_

**Jay 1****st**** POV**

"C'mon, Jay! You can do better than this!" I gritted my teeth as I avoided another barrage of attacks from Grandma Chiyo's _temporary_ puppet. Emphasis on _temporary_.

We've been sparring in the cave thing like this for the past few days. With breaks, of course. She practiced me in ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu and, not to forget, puppetry. But now, she wants to see what I learned for the past three years that I've been gone. That's why I've only worn my gloves and weapons today.

"Grandmaaa," I slightly complained to her, "remember what I told you? I was only taught medical ninjutsu. I wasn't exactly taught that much offensive jutsus."

"Tsk , tsk, tsk." Grandma Chiyo tsked. "I specifically _told_ you not to ask help from _that person_ among all people… oh well. You _must_ have picked up something off of your teacher. Show them to me."

I sighed exasperatedly. _'Well, I _did_ pick up a few tricks from her…' _"Fiiine."

"But Grandma," My brows furrowed in anger, "We've been sparring for _two days_! And now it's the third! When will I get my free day? You told me you'd train me for only two consecutive days!"

"Change of plans. You'll use your free day tomorrow to rest." Grandma Chiyo told me seriously. "Now, come at me with all you've got. How do you expect yourself to protect your Jinchuuriki, much less stay by his side, if you can't even lay a single hand on me?"

"…Grandma…" I growled at her biting remark. _'She's just baiting you… She's just baiting you.'_ I closed my eyes and slowly released my breath. Then I opened them and walked over, only stopping a few meters away from Grandma and resumed my defensive stance. "_'My'_ Jnchuuriki has a name, you know."

"Oh, so he does?"

At her words, anger immediately bubbled up in me. Sure, insult me. But Gaara? That's a low blow. I was too much consumed into my anger that it was only on pure instinct that I sensed a puppet appearing behind me, brandishing its broadsword, ready to slice me to ribbons. I turned around and saw its broadsword coming down towards me, fast. I raised my arms, felt my familiar control of my chakra flow into me as I shaped my chakra to form arm blades around my arms, and stopped the broadsword only inches from stabbing me. Immediately after, I shoved it off, but not before slicing it in half.

"Hmmm… Nice reflexes. You've grown better." I turned towards my Grandma and she slightly tilted her head to the side. "But where did you learn how to reshape your chakra? Surely, it must not have been from that teacher of yours."

"No. It's not from her." I slightly shook my head as I replied and shrugged, "I dunno how I do it. It's just that I can."

"Hmm… Most interesting." The elder summoned two more puppets. "Let's resume, then."

I crouched a bit as the two puppets came swiftly towards me. One had a katana and the other one had a chainsaw looking weapon. Right when they approached, the katana puppet swing his weapon slicing sideways, so I jumped up to avoid being sliced. Behind me, the chainsaw puppet swung its weapon downwards. Quickly, I reshaped my chakra arm-blade to a shield, and kicked the puppet away. Clapping my hands together, I merged my shaped chakras to one sword and brought it down on the puppet, cutting it in half.

I landed on the ground, panting with one eye closed, as my chakra sword dissipated, not able to maintain it, and returned to me. Chiyo summoned two more puppets and I was about to reshape my chakra again until I noticed my body jerk a bit before I could control it again. _'Tch! Not now!' _

"Hn? Is that a problem I see?" Grandma raised her eyebrows at me. "Don't force yourself too hard if you can't do much of it yet."

"Tch! I just need more practice with it. That's all."

My brows furrowed, willing my body to cooperate with me, as the two puppets came towards me. I crouched and concentrated and when the two puppets came, I shot portions of my chakra at them, sort of like a chakra blast, making it run like a current of electricity through grandma's chakra strings. Because of the shock, she disconnected the chakra strings, giving me an advantage. I brought up my fist, infusing it with chakra before speaking.

"Now _this_ came from my teacher!" after I spoke, I slammed down my fist on the ground.

Almost immediately, the ground cracked, splitting the ground into crevices, with dust and debris flying everywhere. While everything was still in chaos, I immediately searched for the elder's chakra signature, quickly retrieved a kunai from my pouch and lunged. When the dust and debris settled down, I found myself successfully pointing a kunai at the elder's throat, grinning victoriously. Even though an obvious threat presented itself in front of the elderly woman, she remained unfazed. If I didn't know her better, I wouldn't have seen her amusement in her eyes.

"Very good." She closed her eyes as she praised me. "Your fighting style has indeed matured. But unfortunately for you, my dear, that is not enough to defeat me."

She snapped open her eyes and all of a sudden, something wrapped its arms around my waist and lifted me off of the floor.

"Ack! Grandma!" I squeaked, startled by the puppet. _"H-how did she?"_

"Hahaha! I gotcha!" Grandma laughed in her funny way. I pouted.

"That's totally unfa—" I protested.

"—unfair? I think not." She cut me off and grinned at me. "I'm actually proud."

I looked at her face, searching her eyes for any sign of her usual pranks but saw none. I grinned back as I saw true pride glimmer in her eyes.

She laughed, placed me down and patted my shoulder.

"At least you weren't as weak as you were before."

_*flashback*_

_A 6 year old Jay panted as she wiped dirt off her cheek with the back of her hand._

"_I can still fight, Grandma Chiyo!" the elder crossed her arms over her chest, huffing._

"_Nah. I think you're pretty much done." She laughed, slightly mocking the bluish black haired girl._

"_Grandmaaaa!" Jay growled and launched herself towards her grandma with a kunai in her hand. She slashed at the elderly woman but to no avail. A puppet blocked her way. "When are you gonna teach me puppetry?"_

"_Ha! In this condition of yours?" She scoffed. "No. Get stronger and I _might_ teach you."_

"_Gah!" Jay threw shurikens irritably at Chiyo and as the puppet caught them, she skidded on the ground underneath the puppet and lunged towards her grandma. She tried to get a punch in but her Chiyo just slapped her hand away, as if saying that Jay wasn't a threat at all. _

"_Look at you. And you think that you should learn puppetry right now?" Chiyo tsked. "Goodness. Look at yourself, full of scratches, cuts… and mud too. Ha! You look like you just took a bath on the mud!"_

_Chiyo laughed heartily then sighed wryly. "I should teach you how to fight cleanly."_

"_Oh no!" Jay panicked after giving herself a once-over from her reflection and saw that she was _filthy_ on the puddle. It seemed like it started raining. "I have to shower! I'm gonna meet up with Gaa-chan tonight!"_

_She stared at Chiyo with puppy dog eyes. "Please, Grandma?"_

"_You _know_ how much I don't want you to spend time with that Jinchuuriki of yours… Yet you still ask me?" Chiyo raised one eyebrow at Jay. "What makes you think I'll allow you?"_

"_Grandmaaa… you also know how much Gaa-chan _means_ to me…" Jay whined, "Pleaase?"_

_Chiyo sighed, deciding on what to do, even though the answer was obvious already. Besides, if she doesn't allow, Jay would keep on bugging her to no end._

"_Fine." Jay cheered. "But be home early, you hear?"_

"_Yes Grandma!" She hugged the elder, "you're the best!"_

_Chiyo watched as Jay ran off to the house, in a hurry to get cleaned up to see a certain Jinchuuriki host._

_*end flashback*_

"That seemed so long ago…" I smiled wistfully at the pleasant memory. When I looked at Grandma, I noticed that she was smiling too.

"Okay, enough of this reminiscing." She gazed at me seriously. "Come. I will show you something. But promise me that you _won't _tell anyone about what I'm about to show you."

Then, without waiting for an answer, she headed out and I followed suit.

* * *

><p><em>The next day…<em>

**Jay 1****st**** POV**

'_Ugh… what time is it?' _I sat up, groggy, looked around and saw orange sunlight filter in the room. _'Weird… why does it look so late?'_

"Whaaat?" I exclaimed, toppling off the bed, as I got a glimpse of my clock. It was 4:30pm.

"How—What—Why-? How did I wake up _this _late?"

I untangled myself from my blanket and hurried to the bathroom.

_Downstairs…_

Chiyo and Ebizo were sitting on the couch, relaxing. Today was a very relaxing da—

BAM! BAM! BAM! … CRASH! … "Oh shoot!" BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Aaah… it seems like Jay has woken up…" Ebizo commented after hearing the commotion.

"She overworked herself yesterday." Chiyo nodded, a crestfallen sigh coming out of the elder's mouth.

"…I guess it didn't work then…"

_Back to Jay 1__st__ POV…_

Ebizo raised an eyebrow.

"What didn't work, sis—"

"Tch! I can't_ believe_ I woke up late!" I huffed angrily as I ran downstairs and saw Grandpa and Grandma relaxing.

I probably toppled off a bunch of things in my haste. I couldn't exactly help it. I have things to take care of, and fast. I ran and got my ninja sandals, hopping in place to put them on.

"Aaah, good morning, Jay." Ebizo greeted me while watching me struggle with my sandals.

"How early you woke up today, Jay." Grandma dryly spoke up.

"Oh! Good… *pull* morning… *hop* Grandpa!" I let out a frustrated sigh as my foot wouldn't go in. I frowned after hearing Chiyo's comment. "Very… *hop* funny… gah! *yank* … Grandma! … oof!"

I pulled too hard and I almost fell over. Almost. Finally. Done with the sandals.

"Don't you want to eat? You didn't yet." Ebizo called my attention just when I was supposed to bolt outside.

"Nah. I'm not really hungry. And I'll probably eat on the way." I answered him, holding up my pouch, and gave them a wave, but not before eyeing Chiyo suspiciously. I just _know_ that she had something to do with my waking up late. I called over my back as I ran outside. "I'm going for a walk!"

After a few paces, I slowed down into a walk. I didn't know where to start looking. Ever since I came back, it seemed like the red head avoided me all the time.

_"I don't need your help. I don't need help from anybody. Especially not from you."_

Remembering his last words, I frowned angrily as walked through the streets of the sand village. I can't stand being avoided by Gaara. It makes me feel both angry and sad. Sad enough to make me cry gallons upon gallons of tears. Figuratively speaking, of course. After a while, I couldn't control my anger anymore, so I blew up.

"Gaah! Freaking stubborn red heads who don't show up when people need them to!" I shouted at the top of my lungs in the middle of the road.

When I finally calmed down, I saw that the villagers were looking at me as if I'm crazy. I most probably blushed and I rubbed the back of my head, smiled sheepishly and muttered a few 'don't-mind-me's to the other villagers. Sighing, I started to walk around again in the hopes of finding the Jinchuuriki host.

* * *

><p><em>The same day…<em>

**Gaara 3****rd**** POV**

The recent days have been somewhat… off… lately. It's not his sleepless nights, not the Shukaku, and definitely not the hateful and fearful glares that the people give him. Then what is it? As he thought of an answer, he observed the people from his perch on the Kazekage Tower. He always found himself drawn to this spot. His subconsciousness, not the Shukaku mind you, makes it seem like going to this tower was already like an instinct, or a long-forgotten routine that only his body remembered. Something tells him that many beautiful memories were spent here. It's like remnants of a pleasant memory blanketed the place, making him feel somewhat untouchable. Well, the death of his uncle here was an exception to pleasant memories, of course. That memory was definitely not a pleasant one.

Trying to shun out that fateful day, he closed his eyes, not sleeping of course, as a soft wind churned and billowed around him and the Sand village. Nobody _ever_ looked up here, so his spot was safe… his spot… just calling it 'his spot' somehow doesn't fit well…

'_This is 'our spot', mmkay, Gaa-chan?'_ he heard a girl in his past tell him those words a long time ago.

His eyes snapped open. _'The girl…'_

Nobody looked up at the tower. All but her. Now he realized what's off. The girl _never_ showed up after their encounter here. In 'our spot'. It was good, actually. It was good that they won't see each other ever again. That was the last. _'It's for my good…'_

'…_and for hers as well…'_ somewhere at the back of his mind, someone whispered the words. Oddly, it sounded like his voice.

Like a magnet, the Shukaku's blood lust came, threatening to overcome him, as he thought of her.

His frown deepened. _'I should do something about her… now…'_

He stood up and stared at the full moon. The sun had set minutes ago.

"_**Aaah… So you **_**finally**_** understand…"**_ The Ichibi cackled with glee. _**"Took you long enough, if I may say so myself…"**_

Without replying, Gaara set out to find a certain bluish black haired girl.

* * *

><p><em>Two hours later…<em>

**Jay 1****st**** POV**

"What should I do?" I stopped and gazed up at the sky, wishing that it would give me an answer. The moon's still full, illuminating the village, basking it with light. Funny how I don't feel comforted by the moon like I always have been. Because of its light, I recognized where I ended up in: the playground. I walked forward and rested my palm on the cave-like thingo in the playground, reminiscing.

Ever since I first arrived in the Sand Village, the people have always been talking about a demon child. They said how he could hurt or kill you in the blink of an eye. Somehow, I didn't believe them. Maybe it was just my 5 and a half year old mind not believing it. And that naïve mind of mine decided to befriend the Junchuuriki. I don't regret having made Gaara my friend. It was the best decision that I've ever made in my whole life. My young self thought that nobody could be _that _bad, especially if the boy was the same age as I. Grandma Chiyo somehow knew of my plans, so she did everything to keep me occupied. Because of this, I never thought that I had a chance to meet Gaara, but I did.

_*flashback*_

_It was a Saturday, so Jay didn't have anything to do with Chiyo._

"_C'mon, Jay-chan! You're the _only one_ I didn't tag yet!" A little sand village boy was running after her, whining. She turned around and ran backwards, giggling. _(**A/N:** Before I forget, the characters in this flashback, except Gaara and Jay, are just random characters that I needed for this flashback. Or maybe I might add some of them somewhere, but yeah. They're just minor.)

"_Geez, Renji-kun! You're so _slow_!" she stuck her tongue out at him playfully._

_She was in the playground with the other children of the village. Grandma Chiyo told her to befriend the other kids so she wouldn't be lonely. It's most probably because the elder didn't want her to go near Gaara. Renji was her classmate in the academy. From the corner of her eye, she had a glimpse of a red haired boy sitting alone on the swing. As he was sitting down, he stared at a teddy bear on the floor. A familiar teddy bear at that._

"_Haha! Finally! I tagged you!" Renji cheered from beside her with a hand on her shoulder._

"_Hey, Jay-chan?" he looked at her questioningly when she didn't respond. Seconds ticked by and when he decided to call the others, she spoke up._

"_Nee… Renji-kun?" Jay turned towards her friend._

"_Um… Yeah?" Renji blinked, surprised that she spoke up suddenly. He didn't expect her to speak too soon. _

"_Who… is that boy on the swing?" she took a glance at the red head. "He looks so lonely…"_

_Renji's eyes widened. He was shocked that she would even as much as _think_ of inquiring about _him_ of all people._

"_Hey, you guys took so long so we—ugh! It's that _freak_ again…" the oldest of them scowled. _(**A/N: ***sniff sniff* I didn't mean to call Gaara… _that_! It's the character, not meee! I totally _despise_ anyone who calls Gaara _that_! Or any words similar to _that_!)

"_That's the demon child…" a girl told Jay, kinda scared, but disgusted too. Jay couldn't believe how hostile they were to a kid like them who's so lonely… He was just the same age as them…_

"The_ Jinchuuriki? Gaara? The son of the Kazekage?" she gazed at the said boy and without warning, she started walking towards him. But before she could walk any closer, she felt a hand grasp her arm, stopping her from going nearer the Jinchuuriki._

"_Wha-what are you doing?" she turned her head towards Renji. He looked extremely frightened just by the thought of her going near, and so were the other kids. She stopped and stared at all of them, straight in the eyes._

"_I want to know why he frightens everyone so much. That is all."_

"_That—'that is all?'" Renji fumbled with his words, terrified. "That's just—you can't—don't—!"_

"_You can't stop me, Renji-kun."_

_As she resumed her walk towards Gaara, she heard the other kids running, probably to find some adults who might help. She stopped walking in front of the Jinchuuriki host and stood there. When he finally noticed her presence, he directed his eyes at her. She gasped as she saw his eyes… so sad… so lonely… and scared? By looking at his eyes, Jay had a feeling that could be—is—a sweet boy deep inside. She squatted in front of him, rested her elbows on her knees, and placed her chin on her palms. _

"_Hi there! My name is Jay." She tilted her head to the side and smiled. "What's yours?"_

_She knew what his name was, obviously. She just wanted him to introduce himself the way he wanted to. The whole village never gave him that chance._

"_You're not… afraid of me?" he looked really surprised, his eyes widening. From what she heard, nobody has _ever_ talked to him, or treated him, this kindly before. _

"_Why should I? You're not scary…" She looked at him and smiled softly. "Do you _want_ me to be afraid of you?"_

_He immediately looked down and slowly shook his head. "No…"_

"_But…" he continued, still looking down. "Everybody knows me… I bet even you do… they say… that I'm a _monster_…" he whispered that last bit sadly._

_Her eyes widened. The thought of him thinking that he indeed _is_ a monster _never_ crossed her mind. It just proves how horribly they've treated Gaara._

"_No. You're not." She told him firmly but sincerely._

"_You wouldn't say that if you know who I am…" he looked at her with so much sadness that she had to refrain herself from pulling him into an embrace. "I think you do anyway…"_

"_Try me."_

_She noticed him stiff, his body language telling her that he was shocked. A cold wind blew by and a few seconds ticked before he spoke up._

"_I am… Sabaku no Gaara…" he stared at her, daring her to run away and to fear him, like how the other villagers did, but she didn't. Instead, she smiled at him warmly._

"_Nice to meet you, Gaara-kun!" he gasped, eyes widening in shock. Jay stood up, retrieved the teddy bear from the floor, and gave it to the startled red head. If anything else, his eyes grew wider. _

"_You like this, don't you?" she answered his silent question. "I'll give it to you. It's mine anyway."_

"_Thank you…" he hugged the bear tightly to his chest as Jay sat on the swing beside his. "J-Jay-chan…"_

_She giggled and ruffled his hair. "I knew it."_

"_You knew what?" Gaara looked at her curiously, blushing by her ruffling of his hair._

"_I knew that you _are_ a sweet boy." She smiled at him and he hesitantly, but happily, smiled back. She didn't know what triggered it, but he suddenly looked back down, acting like how he was a while ago._

"_Gaara-kun… what's wrong?" Jay asked him worriedly. He fell silent for a long time and when she thought that he wouldn't speak, he did._

"_If… If you'll stay with me all the time… the villagers will hate you too." He gazed at her sadly but seriously. "Especially if they think that we're friends… I don't want them to hate you… _not you_…"_

"_But we _are_ friends, Gaara-kun! Never let the thought that we aren't get into your head." She stared at him equally serious then broke into a smile. "I don't mind being hated. As long as you're ok, I'm ok."_

_Gaara started to protest but she assured him that she was serious of her decision by beaming at him._

"_I _will_ protect you, Gaara-kun! I'll get stronger and stronger and stronger, just for you!" she grinned determinedly at him. "I won't let the villagers be mean to you. I'll stay by your side, Gaara-kun!"_

"_Then, I will protect you too." Gaara smiled widely at his newfound friend. "If you need any help, just call my name, Jay-chan!"_

_*end flashback*_

"Hmph. This place is for children…" a familiar, velvety, raspy and deep voice spoke from above, bringing me back to the present.

My head swiveled upwards and I saw my childhood best friend, who was standing on the cave like thingo, arms crossed. This is my best friend who used to be shy, timid, scared, sad, and dependent. But… when I look into his eyes right now… I don't see any of those traits. They're just simply _gone_. They were replaced by cold hatred, ravenous blood lust and undying revenge. Just seeing him made me wonder what happened to my best friend. Was it my fault that he ended up this way? Was this because I left him? But now, there's no turning back. My best friend's changed. If I can do something to change him, that's great. But for now, it's different. It's either I deal with it, or not at all.

Sighing, I locked my gaze into his.

"You're not the kid I used to know back then... _Gaara_."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yay! Cliffy! I like cliff-hangers! XD ... Well, when it's not done to me, that is... anyway, please review (but kindly please XD)! I'll give you guys imaginary cookies if you review! I mean, who can't resist cookies? Thanks for reading!

**Oh, and guys, I'm thinking of changing the title of the story. I'm kinda thinking that it doesn't really fit that well. I'll probably announce the new title in the next chapter before I change it.**

See ya guys in the next chapter!

~JayTheCow~


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hey guys! Sorry for the super late update! The good thing is that it's here, right? :P I kinda had writer's block, sooo. yeah. (and a tad bit lazy, too)

Thankies to **DarkFlame Alchemist **for editing this chappie! XD Thankies, cuz!

**IMPORTANT NOTE: ****As I said in the last chapter, I will change the title of the story. And the new title will be Bane of the Eternity. I shall change it after a few days, I think. It depends on how patient I am. :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Only my OCs.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"Hmph. This place is for children…" a familiar, velvety, raspy and deep voice spoke from above, bringing me back to the present._

_My head swiveled upwards and I saw my childhood best friend, who was standing on the cave like thingo, arms crossed. This is my best friend who used to be shy, timid, scared, sad, and dependent. But… when I look into his eyes right now… I don't see any of those traits. They're just simply gone. They were replaced by cold hatred, ravenous blood lust and undying revenge. Just seeing him made me wonder what happened to my best friend. Was it my fault that he ended up this way? Was this because I left him? But now, there's no turning back. My best friend's changed. If I can do something to change him, that's great. But for now, it's different. It's either I deal with it, or not at all._

_Sighing, I locked my gaze into his._

_"You're not the kid I used to know back then... Gaara."_

* * *

><p><span>CHAPTER 6<span>

**Jay 3rd POV**

"You're not the kid I used to know back then... _Gaara_."

Jay spoke as she stared into her childhood friend's emotionless eyes.

"I changed." Gaara's reply was cold and cutting. He turned around and was about to jump off the cave-like tunnel when Jay spoke.

"Oh really?" she taunted him, feeling pissed about his attitude towards her. "It doesn't look like it."

In less than a second, sand surged up around Gaara and he blasted a series of sand streams at her, eyes glinting with barely suppressed anger. She dodged all but one, which grazed her cheek. She gasped, eyes widening, as she touched the said cheek, feeling blood beginning to drip out of the minor wound.

"G-Gaara..."

"Do you really wish to die that badly?" he all but growled at her, expressing no sympathy and sensing no surprise from the bluish, black haired girl in front of him.

Immediately after, he threw three more sand chords at her – one at her left, one at her right and one in front. Jay straightened up and jumped up at the middle chord, making the other two chords miss.

She ran across it and leapt towards the red head, but to no avail. Just when she was a few inches from him, Gaara blasted sand directly at her, throwing her body backwards and knocking the breath from her.

Jay regained balance and landed on her left knee, wincing. As she proceeded to stand up, Gaara suddenly clasped his head with both his hands while bending forward.

"Nyyygh!" He gritted his teeth.

"M...Mother...!" He rasped out and began to convulse. As if making a decision, he nodded and straightened up a bit and glared waveringly at the bluish black haired girl.

"Come. Fight me." he bore his gaze into her eyes. "Our spot."

Without giving her a second to reply, he vanished into sand and transported himself on the Kazekage tower. He needn't be worried. Something told him that Jay would come. She _would_.

She stared in the spot where her Gaara once stood, shaking her head sadly to herself.

"... But I don't want to fight you..."

* * *

><p><strong>Jay 3rd POV <strong>

Jay stood there on the playground, running her hands up and down her arms.

"_G-Gaara_…"

_*flashback*_

_"Do you really _have_ to call me 'Gaa-chan'?" Gaara blushed at his nickname by Jay. _

_"Of course I do, Gaa-chan!" Jay exclaimed affirmatively."I want to have _my_ own way of calling you. 'Gaa-chan' is _my_ very own nickname for you. It means that I truly treasure you as my best friend. Only if we change will I change it... But I _do_ hope you won't change, Gaa-chan. I like you just the way you are."_

_She smiled at him warmly. "I'd like you to be my best friend forever. It would definitely hurt if I lose you, Gaa-chan."_

_Gaara blushed. "You're not the only one who'll get hurt if we stopped being friends, Jay-chan. I would be too... Very much..." _

_*end flashback* _

He changed. _He changed._ 'Gaa-chan' and 'Gaara's' difference is astronomical… calling this Gaara 'Gaa-chan' is out of the question. He's not my 'Gaa-chan.' Not anymore…

She shook her head softly as a small draft blew by, adding to her melancholy mood.

"…what happened to our promise?"

* * *

><p><strong>Gaara 3rd POV<strong>

Gaara stood on the Kazekage tower, arms crossed and eyes closed, waiting for a certain bluish black haired girl to come.

As cold wind traveled by continuously, he looked down at his hands after uncrossing his arms, and clenched them tightly.

He still felt the anger bubble within him. It was becoming a lot more difficult to control it recently, especially when _she's_ around. The fact that his control easily breaks in front of Jay makes him a lot more cautious than he already is... Tch! Why should he even _care_ if she gets hurt? He should just finish what he started and get it over with.

Before he could think of anything else, his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another presence. Jay.

"So you're finally here…"

As Gaara directed his gaze at her, he was greeted by suspicion from his part since Jay didn't have a _single_ trace of anger that she had with her just a moment ago. Her demeanor had no sense of malice. Not at all. He could see that there was something in those sterling blue orbs of hers that he couldn't decipher. She wasn't tense at all. She looked completely calm, as if she wasn't facing the most dangerous ninja in the village. Somehow, it ticked him off.

But before Gaara could say anything else, or most probably snarl at her, Jay spoke,

"I don't want to fight you, Gaara…"

* * *

><p><strong>Jay 1st POV<strong>

"I don't want to fight you, Gaara…" I said to him as seriously as I could.

I can't let it go on like this. I feel like if I fight him, the more I will go farther away from him, and I don't want that to happen. Our friendship is becoming farther enough as it is.

"That choice is not yours to make."

With that said, he raised both his arms and sand rose up quickly on his command, forming an enormous sand dome around us. Light filtered in the dome, which went through a hole at the top of the dome, not only letting the light in, but also cold wind as well.

I looked around, searching for an escape route. "You can't escape me." He said, and he was right. The only escape route was the opening, which was 30 feet from the ground. Deciding there really was no escape, I stared at Gaara with steady eyes.

'_I guess fighting Gaara is the only way to do this.'_

I assumed my defensive stance and immediately lunged towards him with my chakra infused fist. Automatically, sand came up and protected Gaara as my punch came in. I forcefully missed, my hand punching through his sand and in effect, grazing his right cheek. Gaara definitely looked shocked now. _'He underestimated me.'_ I thought to myself.

It was obvious nobody got past his sand yet, which means that I was the first. And oddly, I felt a sense of pride for being the first. Before I could land another punch, I felt sand wrap around my left ankle and throw me off. I balanced myself so I could land on the ground lightly. I noticed Gaara move and when I looked at him, I saw his fingers touching his cheek. It was bleeding.

"I-is this… my… b-blood?" His bloodstained hand shook as he stared at it. "I-I'm… bleeding?"

I was so stunned that I didn't see a sand chord barreling towards me in a flurry of movement. I managed to evade it in the last second due to instinct, knowing that if I hadn't, I would've been pulverized.

Unfortunately for me, that was only the beginning. Six sand chords suddenly rose up around me. Three of them attacked simultaneously and I jumped to make them collide and destroy themselves. A sand chord stormed at me while I was still in the air. I crossed my arms in front of me to protect myself as it made contact. Its force pulled me down and slammed me to the ground.

"Hmph. Weak… W-what?" Gaara's nonexistent eyebrows furrowed when "I" started crumbling into sand. _'A sand clone.'_

"Don't underestimate me, Gaara." I spoke from behind him. His eyes widened, probably surprised that he didn't sense my presence. Before I could land a punch on him, his sand pushed me away from him as sand chords attacked. I avoided each one by jumping away and stood in my defensive stance as the last one barreled towards me. The sand chord turned into a copy of Gaara and I gasped, surprised. The clone knocked me down. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to hurt it, even if I knew it was a clone. Gaara had figured out my weakness; I couldn't hurt him. We rolled across the ground and I knew I had to do something fast. I shut my eyes and kneed the clone in the stomach and winced, feeling my knee go through as the clone reverted back to sand.

''Why won't you just _listen_ to me?" I demanded while running towards Gaara. I wanted to make him understand that I could help him. "I'm just trying to help you!"

Gaara raised his arms up, completely ignoring my words.

"Sand Tsunami!"

Sand rose up from the ground immediately and made a mini-tsunami. I jumped up and almost fully dodged it when my feet skimming the top of the wave. I was distracted and in result didn't notice the thin sand chords shooting through the air towards me. I crossed my forearms in front of me as they cut through my arms and legs. Unfortunately, one of them cut through my left shoulder deeper than the rest, causing it to bleed. I clutched it, feeling the stinging sensation run through it as I landed on my feet.

"You're holding back." Gaara balefully growled, his expression in between sadistic excitement and struggling anger. He was clearly having trouble controlling the Shukaku. "That's just the beginning. I won't be as lenient the next time."

Actually, Gaara was kinda right. I wasn't using my full power in this fight. But I think that holding back _was_ a bad idea. My cuts felt like needles piercing through me again and again and I had no choice but to heal the major ones. I can't afford to lose too much chakra. Apparently, Gaara was waiting for me, so when I felt better, I resumed my stance and charged at him, now prepared to reshape my chakra if necessary.

"I just want to _help_ you, Gaara!" I kicked him; my heel breaking through the sand and clipping the side of his stomach. He got thrown away, surprised that I was able to successfully kick him hard. Fortunately for him, his fall was cushioned by his sand on the last second.

"You don't have to deal with _all_ your problems by yourself!" Gaara got up, his sand armour cracked, some chunks falling to the ground because of the impact. "I can understa-" His sand quickly slammed me to the wall of the sand dome, knocking the breath out of me. I sat against the wall, trying to regain my breath.

"You think it's so _easy_?" Gaara growled, and strode threateningly towards me. I started to say something but he cut me off. "Shut up! You don't know what happened! You don't know _anything_! You don't understand!"

"You weren't there when father sent _six_ assassins after me!" He thrust his palm towards me like a claw trying to reach out to something. I felt sand wrap around me as he continued. "You weren't there when I stopped believing in _anyone_ but myself. You weren't there when I figured everything out; my father hated me, my uncle lied to me, my mother never loved me…" He pulled me with his sand towards him so I was right in front of him.

"My best friend _betrayed_ me…" Gaara glared directly at my eyes, bare emotions exposed. All his pent up feelings, ready to be released. Pain, hurt, confusion, sadness and loneliness. Still, the most evident one was anger. With all these emotions exposed and easy to read, he looked like his younger self: the boy who was easy to read. But in a moment, that Gaara disappeared, replaced by what the villagers thought he was – a monster.

"But it's much too late…"

"Now… die!" I saw a glimpse of the maniac glint in his eyes before I shut my own, waiting for the crushing sensation of his sand coffin. _'Huh, so this is how it ends, eh? Che. I didn't even get to do anything… I am _truly_ sorry, Gaa-chan.'_ I chuckled to myself sadly. _'I guess I just wanted to say your name before… you kill me…'_ I waited for it, but nothing came. Instead, I was dropped unceremoniously on the ground and was pushed away from Gaara by the sand that had just wanted to kill me a few moments ago.

'_W-what?'_ I stood up and snapped my eyes open, seeing Gaara clutching his head, the sand armor cracking throughout his whole body. Bits and pieces fell off, making him look like a cracked marble statue.

'_I have never seen him like this. What am I supposed to do?' _Suddenly, wind screeched in the air as sand and wind billowed around Gaara. _'Something… Something's _definitely_ not right.'_

The walls of the sand dome reverted back to sand and collapsed back on the ground, spreading more sand in the air. With all the sand, I couldn't see, and what's more, I couldn't breathe properly. The torrent of sand raged everywhere. Before I could lose consciousness, the sand went over to Gaara and hovered around him. I looked worriedly at him, not knowing what to do. My heart thumped painfully in my chest.

'_Maybe I should use _that_?'_

'_No!'_ I shook my head, my hand clenching my chest. _'I don't understand it yet… I can't…' _I felt my heat thump harder. I realized that it was fear. I wasn't scared for me, I was scared for Gaara…

Sensing movement, I turned my attention to Gaara, who was standing with his right hand clutching his head, nearly covering his right eye. The way he was looking at me sent shivers running down my spine. It was filled with blood lust.

"What is in you? Why can't I-" A deafening roar erupted before Gaara could continue his sentence. It didn't come from Gaara… It came from… _the Shukaku…_ Sand started to come after me again, but fiercer than ever. I wanted to move, but I couldn't because sand encased my feet. Right before it came in contact with me, I decided that I should fight back this time. I shaped my chakra into a sword and reared it backwards to slice it but…

"No!... Mother!"

The sand suddenly shifted backwards, going away from me. I didn't understand what was happening. The sand that covered my feet went away, and the one that was about to attack me was jerking backwards and forwards.

"Mother… no!" I turned my head towards Gaara, and because he seemed to control it a bit, he looked at me.

"Ever since… you left… My life has never been anything… but pain and suffering…" he hissed, the Shukaku probably fighting for control. "Now that you came back, it became _worse_! You-!"

Without a second thought, I appeared in front of Gaara and wrapped my arms around him. Oddly, the sand shield let me pass through, almost willingly. It's like the shield _wanted_ me to hug Gaara.

At the next second, I realized what I did and became nervous, but I didn't let go. He stiffened as I hugged him. He didn't push me away, even when I thought so. And only then I noticed that the sand torrent stopped… everything froze. _'I… guess it's time… to apologize…"_

"Gaara… I'm _so _sorry…" I whispered as I buried my head on his chest. I got a whiff of his scent and I distinguished the scent of *sand and freshly baked cookies*… cookies? I tightened my grip on the back of Gaara's shirt, "I… I didn't know all that would happen… I left to make myself stronger… I should have stayed. I left you all alone, thinking that a couple of years wouldn't hurt… but it did…"

I looked into his eyes, my sight blurring at the edges. My fatigue was finally catching up to me. "… My leaving hurt you so much… I know that now…"

"Gaara…" I noticed my voice becoming fainter as I saw my vision go blacker and blacker by the second. "Please forgive… me…"

I'm at my limit. But before I fully lost consciousness, the last thing I saw was the alarmed expression on Gaara's face as I fell from his arms as he said something.

"_Jay!"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **:P Sooo, how is it? Please review! Please do try to be kind in reviewing. :) XD I'll give ya cookies!

see you guys in the next chappie!

~JayTheCow~


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Hey guys! I'm so so so so so so so so so so so sorry that I had not updated since... forever! I am truly and deeply sorry! I was just super busy! (I know that that reason won't cut it, but still...) Anyway, thank you to **squirpsdolphin** and **IzzyWhitlockHale** for favoriting my story! Thank you to **Shadow-Ninja-Captain69**, **SoraLover987142**, **LadyAmazon**, and **Crystal-Rose-Lover** for following my story! And thank you to **Kilalahinanaruto555, LadyAmazon, Guest, andieanne, Furor, **and **animefreak653** for reviewing! XD And thank you for **DarkFlame Alchemist **for helping me with this chappie!

**Disclaimer: JayTheCow does not own Naruto.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

><p><em>Recap:<em>

_"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded. "You too." He turned his back to me and walked towards his house._

_'I'm always like this when I'm around him... I'm so lucky that I was able to hide it at all.' I made a long sigh and looked up at the sky, trying to calm my thundering heart beat._

_'Tomorrow's gonna be a long day…'_

* * *

><p><span>CHAPTER 7<span>

_In the Leaf Village..._

**3rd POV**

"... Ha ha ha… No way. I'm just paranoid." Joy muttered to herself as she made her way to the Academy. "There's _no way_ that that foreign ninjas infiltrated the village without anybody noticing…"

Recently, she had been sensing unrecognizable chakra in the village. There was a chance that the foreign ninjas were just visiting for diplomatic reasons, but she couldn't be too sure. Since nobody seemed to notice the difference, she had been putting it off for some time, but it only grew. Therefore, it could no longer be ignored.

She had a feeling that it was a kind of negative chakra and because of that, it was really odd that nobody noticed.

"Well… I can always ask Aika-chan…"

That was true; Aika's clan _had to _have sensed it because they should be able to in the first place. Their family specializes in emitting, controlling and disrupting chakra, so in a way, they're experts on that particular field. Missing the fact that strange chakra was in the air was simply not possible for them.

But, even if the clan sensed it, they were probably waiting it out a bit, just to see what would happen, so as to not alert their potential enemies. Who knows what could happen if their potential enemies figured out that their cover was blown?

She suddenly got out of her thoughts when her eyes caught sight of her friend.

"Angel!" Joy waved to the Hyuga, who in turn waved back, but not before her brows furrowed. As usual, Shikamaru and Choji were with her—Shikamaru with his lazy slouch and Choji with his chips. "Hi Shikamaru-kun, Choji-kun!"

"Hey." Shikamaru nodded his head at Joy's direction.

"Hi Joy-chan! Want a chip?" Choji greeted and handed her a potato chip, to which she took with a smile.

"Joy-chan, where's Naruto-kun? I thought you were always with him?" Aika started, with a worried expression on her face. "He's not sick, is he?"

"Nah," The green haired girl shook her head. "I just asked him to go ahead… Actually, I kinda need to talk to you, _alone_…" She whispered that last bit to Aika, who's ever growing worried expression deepened, but, nevertheless, she nodded.

"What's up, Ai?" Shikamaru glanced at the two girls who stopped walking. He might have looked laid back at that moment, but if someone looked close enough, they would see that his eyes held a calculating expression. He most probably caught on to the "talking alone" part. Of course, it wasn't like he suspected Joy or anything, but he felt curious on what she wanted with Aika…

"Mhmm… You guys go ahead." Aika smiled at Shikamaru, who just raised an eyebrow. The Hyuga gave them a shooing gesture. "It's fiiiine. I'll be right behind you two. Seriously."

Shikamaru searched Aika's eyes before sighing and beckoning Choji to go with him. "Let's go, Choji."

The said boy nodded, but not before turning around, "You guys better not be late! The exams might start soon."

When the two boys walked far enough to be out of earshot, Aika turned to Joy. "What is it, Joy-chan?"

"Well…" Joy pursed her lips, unsure on how to say it. "Have you… have you _felt_ something weird lately? You know… like, some unfamiliar chakra?"

Aika's eyes widened a fraction in surprise. Not that she was underestimating her friend or anything, but the only ones she knew who could sense chakra were a few of the jonins, the Hokage, the Yamanaka, Aburame, and Hyuga clans. Actually, she didn't think that Ino even noticed the chakra, and Joy wasn't even blood related to any of the clans here, so how…?

Aika decided not to think too much about the fact that her friend was somehow able to sense chakra at the moment and focused more on her question. She then remembered the conversation that she had with her mother not too long ago, which pertained to the mysterious chakra that came out of nowhere.

_*flashback*_

_"Aika... Do well in your graduation exam, yes?" The said kunoichi's mother looked at her daughter a bit waveringly. _

_Recently, Aika's been slightly worried for her mother. She's noticed her mother's uneasiness ever since their clan announced foreign chakra present in the village. Her mother acted as if... as if she knew to whom the chakra belonged to. _

_"Of course, Mom." Aika nodded and smiled. She came forward and hugged her mom. "Don't be so worried. We have the Hokage, the ANBU, the clans and Dad to protect the village. I'm sure we can deal with this foreign entity in time." _

_She released her mom and was shocked to see tears welling up in her mother's eyes. She could tell that whoever owns that chakra was really shaking her up... And that fact made Aika herself scared. Who could be here that could cause her mother to behave this way?_

_"Mom?" _

_"It's nothing..." She dismissed it with a smile and a wave. "You have a gift waiting for you here. That is, if you pass the graduation exam, which I think you will with flying colors. After all, you _are_ a Hyuga."_

_Although Aika still felt uneasy, she smiled nonetheless, "Really? A present for me? Thank you! And like I just said, Mom, of course I'll pass. I'll do you proud."_

_Her mom then pursed her lips and released a breath, "I'm glad to hear that."_

_*end flashback*_

"Aika-chan?" Joy's voice brought her back to the present. She looked directly at her friend, seeing the worried expression on her face once again. "C'mon, Angel! Please tell me I'm not being paranoid and the chakra that I'm sensing are just diplomats coming here, and not enemies who most probably already entered the village!" She rushed it all out in one breath, her voice slightly escalating before being silenced by Aika.

"Shh! Joy-chan! Not too loud!" the Hyuga said to quiet down the other kunoichi, which she did immediately.

"Sorry..." The chastised Joy whispered, sticking her tongue out cheekily. But before either of them could say any more, somebody spoke out from behind them.

"You're not wrong." A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by the sound of clapping thunder. The sky seemed to darken with his appearance, and the village became quiet. It was almost as if they were the only ones there. As he moved, his startling silver hair peeked out from his dark hood. Both girls were surprised, to say the least.

"Byakugan!" Immediately after activating it, the Hyuga's eyes widened. _'His chakra…!'_

Aika went in front of her friend, taking a defensive stance. In response, Joy took a step back.

"It would do you well to be careful." The boy said, his voice calm, not appearing to see the apprehension of the Hyuga. At the moment, he wasn't emitting a malevolent aura. He doesn't even appear to want to hurt them. But, they can't be too sure.

He was interrupted when an explosion was heard. Both kunoichis jumped, surprised at the sudden commotion. The sound resonated throughout the village quickly and, as if on cue, sirens blared.

"B Unit, scout the perimeter! C Unit, evacuate the civilians! Zero Unit, _secure the safety of the Hokage!"_

The two kunoichi looked back, but the mysterious stranger was nowhere to be found. Joy gasped as she heard the last order and turned towards the Hyuga, eyes widened. "_Oto-san_!"

At that, Aika was surprised. It was always Grandpa Ho or Grandpa Hokage… never "oto-san". Joy would seldomly refer the Hokage that way, and that change of reference indicated Joy's fear for her adoptive father.

As they were about to run to the Hokage tower, an ANBU black op called their attention and appeared in front of them. Many of the ANBU were running about, shouting orders, with their faces concealed by their customary cat masks.

"You're genin, am I right?" When the two were about to disagree, and let the ANBU know that they didn't even graduate yet, the ANBU cut them off, "Nevertheless, your orders are to help evacuate the civilians. Bring them to the safety points immediately."

"But you don't understand!" Joy protested, ignoring the look of warning that Aika was sending her. She immediately pointed to the Hokage tower where the roof was burning, spreading smoke into the air. "Oto-san is there! I _have _to be there! _I have to!_"

"Ah, you're Lord Hokage's ad—… daughter." He paused for a second, catching himself before he let the word "adopted" slip out of his lips. He looked at her straight in the eyes as much as his mask allowed him and said sternly, "Leave this to us. Going inside could only bring you harm. As—"

"Lemme go! Lemme go!" Loud shouting cut through the ANBU's sentence as their eyes were directed to a certain brown haired boy wearing a very long blue scarf. He was retaliating with jerks, kicks, and punches against the ANBU restraining him, but they were futile.

"No! Lemme go, I tell you!" Konohamaru more or less growled, with frustrated tears blurring his vision. "Grandpa is there! I have to save him! Grandpa!"

"Captain!" another ANBU appeared and announced, "We have secured the safety of the Lord Hokage… There is no need to worry." At that last statement, the said shinobi glanced at Joy and Konohamaru.

With that said, the two of them couldn't stop a sigh of relief. _'He's safe…' _they simultaneously thought.

It was too early to relax, though, because at that moment, a cloaked figure jumped out of the Hokage tower, causing havoc. ANBU were immediately on his tail as he leaped from building to building, evading them left from right. It was a wild goose chase around the village until they were nearing the squad close to Joy and Aika.

"Intruder, surrender now and return what you have stolen," shouted one of the elite shinobi, ready to attack if needed.

While in midair, the figure quickly turned his body and released all items in his arms, spreading it all over the ground – books and scrolls of the like, before facing forward again to leap on another roof. An ANBU went to grab one of the scrolls before it fell, but didn't realize that it was rigged with explosive tags until the last minute.

Fortunately, the ninja kicked the scroll up, causing it to explode away from them just in time. Only a few pieces were left of the scroll, and since it was very old and one of a kind, whatever contents that was in the paper was gone forever.

That wasn't good for the ANBU, and, what's worse, the mysterious person threw several more scrolls with exploding tags on each of them. They all detonated in a flash, causing more losses.

The shinobi evaded, but only some were able to dodge and continued pursuing the perpetrator. All the while, the two who were injured from the explosion landed on the roofs to check out their damages. Once they assessed their condition, with them knowing they were still capable of moving, the two shinobi teleported away to rejoin the chase.

As the cloaked figure and remaining shinobi ran above Aika and Joy from the rooftops and poles, the green-haired kunoichi felt an ominous aura coming off of him. She could even feel it when he was already out of sight. She couldn't resist a shudder as shivers ran down her spine. _'He's definitely bad news…'_

Before she could do anything more, the ANBU captain spoke and alerted all units, "The assailant had just come out of the tower! Capture him, alive!"

After hearing that order, Joy's eyes narrowed. _'He's the one who placed oto-san in danger…' _

Without a second thought, she bolted towards the cloaked man.

"Joy!" Aika started to run towards the green haired kunoichi, but stopped when a jonin appeared in front of Joy and held her back.

"This is where you stop." The jonin blocked her. She started to talk, but was silenced by the jonin's words. "Stop now or we'll have to use force."

Her eyes widened and she stepped back involuntarily at the force of his words, becoming submissive now.

"The ANBU captain had already dispatched a squad to hunt down the infiltrator," he continued, "Leave it to them. You should go help the others calm down the civilians. Now."

Hesitantly, Joy nodded and the jonin disappeared. She begrudgingly started to return to where Aika was, but she moved her foot up quickly after stepping on something. She looked down and saw the old tattered books and leftover pieces of the scrolls that the intruder had dropped.

Joy reached and held one of them in her hand, staring at the cover.

"Joy-chan, what is that?" Aika asked while approaching her.

The green-haired girl said nothing and just opened the book. She was surprised to see pictures and top-secret files of citizens, her fellow shinobi.

Aika retrieved another book from the ground and as soon as she opened it, she let out a gasp.

This caught Joy's attention, which caused her to look over and see what was the matter, "What is it?" She took a quick scan and frowned, "A book about the artifacts held here? What was the point of that?"

Aika's eyes squinted, "Maybe it's to throw us off their tracks or something…"

"Maybe..." Joy agreed with Aika. She looked at the notebook more before Aika spoke.

"Um, Joy…" the said girl looked at the Hyuga questioningly.

"Yeah?"

There was a slight hesitation in Aika's eyes before she smiled and shook her head. "Nah. It's nothing. Forget I said anything."

Joy looked at Aika for a bit before they went back to the notebooks, pondering over the mystery that was presented to them.

* * *

><p><strong>Joy 3rd POV<strong>

'_For the students who were supposed to have the exam today, we have an announcement... Due to the events that had conspired, the exams are postponed. We have decided to carry the exams on tomorrow.'_

Joy sighed. _'Too much excitement for one day...'_

Once she reached her house, she looked up to see a tall, brown-eyed man smoking, sitting down on the porch, while looking up at the sky. He had short, black spiky hair, and beard. He wore the standard Konoha ninja uniform but with the sleeves rolled up half way, a jonin vest, regular shinobi sandals and forehead protector. He also wore the Twelve Guardian Ninja sash that had the kanji for "Fire" marked on it around his waist, a pair of black bangles and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves.

"Onii-chan..."

In response to her call, Asuma looked at her and smiled. "Hey there, imouto."

Joy started to smile then immediately sighed exasperatedly, spotting the cigarette in her adoptive brother's mouth.

"A-su-ma-nii!" She huffed, stomping towards the jonin, snatching the cigarette from his mouth and stomping it on the ground. Her arms akimbo as she lightly admonished her brother. "How many times in my freaking life do I have to tell you that smoking is _bad for your health?!_"

Asuma just chuckled and ruffled his sister's hair, much to her chagrin.

He stood up and started walking towards the forest while gesturing towards the green haired girl. He had already lit another cigarette and was now rightfully placed in his mouth. "C'mon. Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Joy curiously asked, but was still a bit irked by his ruffling of her hair, and decided to ignore Asuma's smoking habits... for now.

"You'll see." Was all he said before fully entering the forest.

* * *

><p><em>Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!<em>

The young kunoichi-in-training detonated another sequence of explosive tags on several targets that Asuma put up in different ranges from distance trees to close-up and mid-ranged rocks and poles. He had been training her ever since she arrived back home, which was already a few hours ago.

She was able to hit majority of them, missing less than half of the targets. Joy wasn't expecting that, actually. She thought that she would have been rusty since she didn't have target practice in a while.

Asuma grinned approvingly, "I see that you've improved in your accuracy."

"I still don't understand why we need to be training right now, Asuma-nii." Joy said, more like complained, for the nth time.

She stood in a defensive position, with her hand ready to go in her pocket and grab a kunai attached with an explosive tag.

Joy was at the center of the clearing, several meters away from him as she awaited for her brother's signal, but all she got was a lecture instead.

"There's nothing wrong with spontaneous training, imouto. You can learn something new each time, which will harness your skills even further. That is what makes a great shinobi. You gain experience," Asuma stated before taking another puff of his cigarette and blowing out the smoke through his mouth.

Although he had said it casually, there _has_ to be a deeper reason than to "harness your skills further", right? Joy knows that Asuma never does things without a really solid reasoning. He's pretty laid back, and he does things only then they are _extremely_ necessary. So…?

Joy looked at him curiously, resisting the urge to frown at her brother's habit, "Like what? All we're doing right now is target practice… What else are we aiming for?"

"Mastering your skills is another thing that a shinobi needs as well. Now that you're getting better at using explosive tags with kunai, you'll eventually learn how to use them in your surroundings or on other objects to your advantage," he answered her questions. "In other words: strategy."

"That's so awesome!" Joy grinned from ear to ear before it turned into something mischievous. She was on her way into thinking of all the pranks and all the ways to annoy people before Asuma cleared his throat, which successfully gained her attention.

He looked at her knowingly with an eyebrow raised while smiling at his little sister's antics.

"It's that look on your face. Don't think that you can hide that from me, imouto."

Ever since she was younger, Joy always had a knack for blowing things up. She loved using explosive tags, that she did. Actually, the household had lots of problems because of her. They actually had to store their explosive tags somewhere where Joy could never find them.

"Whaaaa~t? I don't knoooo~w what you're talking about." Joy blinked innocently at him and shrugged in an I-don't-know-anything way. Then she skipped and turned around in a full circle and faced Asuma with a smile on her face. "Anyway, let's go back to training, onii-chan!"

The jonin shook his head, chuckling at his sister's childishness before walking closer to her until they were a few feet apart, all the while putting his hand in his pocket while the other held his cigarette, "No can do, training ends now. We'll continue this another time. For now, you should be practicing those jutsus that you'll need to perform for your exam tomorrow. You can't be a ninja if you can't even pass the exam for genin qualifications."

Joy nodded and began to form hand seals, but before she could even execute a jutsu… a searing pain erupted from her head, making her lose focus.

* * *

><p><strong>Joy 1<strong>**st**** POV**

"Ugh!" I yelled while crouching down, holding my head between my hands. My head was spinning. '_Where did this sudden pain come from?'_ I wondered.

Almost immediately, Asuma ran towards me and I noticed, even with this pain, his cigarette lay forgotten on the ground in his alarm.

"What's wrong?" He asked, checking my temperature, pulse, chakra levels, anything to help me.

"Asuma-nii… my head… nnghh!" I gritted my teeth as the pain began to worsen. It felt like senbons were piercing me over and over, the intense pain causing tears to form in my eyes.

All of a sudden, images were planted into my mind and all of a sudden, I couldn't move. And it that second…

'…_I see… a tatami room filled with seals, humming with raw energy… complicated seals surrounding a pedestal… on top of it is a small, old, wooden chest… suddenly, the seals activate, flashes with a blue light, and at the same time, a painful prickling sensation enters my left eye... The chakra spread like a wild fire on the lines and symbols of ancient seals… it illuminated the room with its blue hue. And as I neared the chest, something stopped me… a shield… it seems like, the closer I get, the more painful my left eye becomes… Is my eye somehow related to this room?...'_

* * *

><p><strong>3rd POV<strong>

"Joy!" He immediately, but gently, took her into his arms as she pressed the heel of her palm on her left eye and rested her head against his chest. This reminded him of the times when Joy would run towards Asuma whenever she becomes afraid. She would always look for him for safety, being the older brother that he is.

By this time, the kunoichi was breathing hard and sweat beaded on her forehead. It seemed like she was burning up.

"Hold on, alright? I'll take you to the hospital." He had only taken a few meters forward when the green haired girl emitted a pained yell.

"No—! Don't… don't go any… closer!" She shook her head fiercely, eyes still firmly shut. In every step that they take, the closer they get to the village, the more painful her body gets.

But eventually, the pain was becoming too much to bear. Asuma could feel her get weaker.

Joy opened her left eye and only saw a blur of her brother. She could see his mouth moving, but she couldn't hear him. And, little by little, her sight began to get blurred until her world went black, falling limp into her brother's arms…

After bringing Joy to the hospital, Asuma had to think…

…What was it that affected Joy so much that she would faint from it? And why only her?

* * *

><p>The activation of seals released energy throughout the village, only known to the ones who were able to sense it.<p>

And somewhere within the woods, a group of people hidden within the shadows smirked.

Somebody spoke up from behind them.

"You should not have come here. Darkness shall consume you all."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Ooooh, I wonder what Aika saw that Joy didn't... :ppp Personally, I don't really feel... fulfilled with this chappie. But, I dunno about you guys. :P

Please review! XD

Till the next chappie!

~JayTheCow~


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